Some aggrieved members of Lagos State House of Assembly have alleged that governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu manipulated the All Progressives Congress (APC) primaries in the State.
This was disclosed during the plenary session on Monday when a few members who lost in the primary election expressed their grievances toward the electoral process.
Hon. Victor Akande representing the Ojo constituency 1 lamented that people voted for them to be in the office but the system shortchanged them.
According to him, we are representing people and they voted for us. A system that shortchanged the people is not good for us and democracy.
“I have the mandate of representing my people and I don’t know what will happen tomorrow. As it is today, I should be able to speak for the masses.
“This house has been so magnanimous with the executive because there is no time that they bring something to the house that we don’t attend to it. This is our time the executive suppose to be on our side but instead what you see is an incursion to the house.
“We have to talk to the people and the masses to know what is happening to us. It is not about Hon. Olusegun Victor Akande is about the institution.
“Today, this institution is a plus and when we get to our destination we will come down but what legacy are we going to leave behind and what history are we going to be left with”? he said.
Akande said some of the members have attended training, spent money to train, and at the end of the day, they just remove the shock on their leg and It is unbearable.
The lawmaker maintained the experience acquired by the speaker Obasa over the years and made some of them join the APC.
” I think the electoral law should be looked into because this system is not good for us and our democracy”, he added.
Hon. Rotimi Olowo (Somolu 1), said their failure to clinch the party’s tickets was not because they were not popular among their people but was due to the incursion by the powers-that-be.
Olowo said that the incursion might be dangerous to the independence of the House, saying that the electorate was angry with how the party conducted its primaries.
He said: “I am not speaking for myself alone. One of our colleagues was rigged between the election location and Acme. The election result was manipulated. In some areas, nothing like an election.
This does not apply to Lagos alone but across Nigeria. In Ondo State, it was only six members returned. In the House of Representatives, it was less than one-third that returned. Some Senators have defected from our party to another party because of the failed process.
“But more importantly is ours here, where another arm of government fingered in all constituencies because the House is irrepressible, independent, proactive, and pro-masses and will not submit to any other arm of government. And that if our sin is because we treat issues how it should be treated without sentiment, we want to commit more sins”.
In his response, the Speaker, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa who tried to calm his colleagues said is all about democracy and they should allow people to choose their representatives.
“You have the right to raise your observation but we must understand the fact that it is all about democracy. I strongly believe that there is an issue with the process of the election but is more of a party thing”, he said.
The speaker, therefore, announced a five-minute recess which later for them to resolve the issue. After an hour the lawmakers resume back into the chamber and the house adjourned sine die without attending to what was in the order paper.
