The governorship primary election of the All Progressives Congress (APC) has commenced in Lagos State to decide if incumbent Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu will get the party’s ticket to contest for a second tenure term in office in the 2023 general election.
TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports the Lagos APC governorship primary is currently held at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena (Onikan Stadium) with 1,198 State delegates already officially accredited.
At 2:00 p.m., voting had commenced in the primary election, which was slated for 10 a.m., amidst tight security, and under the watch of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The voting commenced with delegates from Agege Local Government.
In his remarks after the accreditation exercise, Alhaji Adamu Yuguda, Chairman of the five-man committee, said that 1,198 delegates were accredited out of 1,225 ad hoc delegates being expected.
Meanwhile, out of the three contestants for the APC governorship ticket, only the incumbent, Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu was on the ground at the time of the commencement of the special congress.
Two other aspirants in the race, a former Commissioner, Mr Wale Oluwo, and a former Permanent Secretary, Abdul-Ahmed Mustapha, were yet to arrive at the time of filing this report.
On the presence of only Gov. Sanwo-Olu out of the three contestants for the APC ticket, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, the party Chairman in Lagos state, said that this showed the seriousness of the aspirant seeking the mandate of the people to rule the state.
Ojelabi said that the three contestants were all aware of the primaries, where the flag-bearer would emerge.
“I wouldn’t know why other aspirants are not here. This process is being driven by the party’s national secretariat,” he said.
Ojelabi said that the orderly and peaceful atmosphere of the primaries in the state was a symbol of what APC represented.