Ogun APC crisis: 26 House of Assembly candidates defect to APM

The crisis rocking the
Ogun State chapter of All Progressives Congress, APC, has deepened, as 26
candidates that emerged from the primary election for the Ogun State House of
Assembly, yesterday defected to Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

Hon. Lamidi (middle) flanked by two other candidates

Addressing a press
conference in Abeokuta, Hon. Lamidi Musefiu Olatunji, who spoke on behalf of
the aggrieved candidates, recalled that the APC held the primary election for
the National Assembly and Ogun State House of Assembly seats on Sunday, 7^th
October, 2018, under the supervision of a 12-member Ogun State election
committee appointed by the APC National Working Committee and led by Col. Ali
Ciroma (rtd).

Hon. Lamidi said that
on 8^th October, 2018, Col. Ali Ciroma, who was the chairman of the
election committee, announced the result of the primary election, where the 26
candidates were declared winners in their respective state constituencies.

He further informed
that none of the 26 candidates was given the requisite INEC forms for the
nomination by the party as candidates for the election, as at the close of
nomination and substitution of candidates for the House of Assembly on 1^st
December, 2018, in accordance with the Electoral Act and INEC guidelines.

Hon. Lamidi said the 26
candidates, after several failed attempts at the state and national
secretariats of the party to collect the nomination forms, resolved to
actualize the mandate given to them by their party members on another political
platform.

“After due consultations
with our elders, members and stakeholders in the APC in Ogun State, we have
come to the inevitable conclusion to seek the general mandate of our people in
the 2019 elections on the platform of
the Allied Peoples Movement, APM.

“We also wish to
acknowledge the fatherly role of President Muhammadu Buhari in seeking to
sustain the tenets of democracy, fairness and equity in the resolution of the
crisis in the APC in Ogun State.

“We regret that Mr.
President’s efforts were frustrated by the forces that are hell-bent in taking
the South West back to the dark age of slavery where unelected kingpins direct
the affairs of the people. The people of Ogun State are renowned for
successfully ascertaining their independence from such overlords and this
instance shall not be different,” Lamidi said.

According to him, the
26 candidates are committed to the second term of President Muhammadu Buhari
and are determined to deliver Ogun State to him in the presidential election on
16^th February, 2019.

The candidates also
acknowledged the spirited efforts of Governor Ibikunle Amosun to protect their
mandates from the forces of impunity, and assured him of their continued
support and resolve to protect the legacy of the good work he is doing in Ogun
State.

The 26 candidates,
including the State Commissioner for Information, Mr. Dayo Adeneye and
Commissioner for Education, Mrs. Modupe Mujota, have directed all their
supporters and admirers to move to APM, the party they described as the new
vehicle for the development of Ogun State, as they promised to work tirelessly
for the election of Hon. Adekunle Akinlade, who was denied the gubernatorial
candidacy of APC, but has also defected to APM, where he will contest the 2019
gubernatorial election.