Primaries: Sanwo-Olu Allegedly Plotting To Impose Cousin, Orekoya In Somolu Constituency I, Group Cries Out

A support group loyal to Lagos State House of Assembly aspirant, Mr Gbolahan Bago-Stowe, has accused Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, of allegedly plotting to impose his cousin, Mr Abiodun Orekoya, as the winner of the All Progressives Congress (APC) direct primary election for Somolu Constituency I.

The group alleged that the ongoing controversy trailing the exercise stemmed from attempts to manipulate results from disputed wards in favour of Orekoya, who is currently representing the constituency in the Lagos State House of Assembly and is seeking a second term ticket.

Speaking with journalists at Ward D, Oke Meta Primary School, Bajulaiye, the spokesman for Gbolahan Bago-Stowe Support Group, Mr Rasak Raji, alleged that despite the enthusiasm of genuine APC members to participate in the exercise, Orekoya allegedly mobilised people from other wards, including alleged non-indigenes without evidence of APC membership, to participate in the voting process.

Raji alleged that the situation created tension in several wards as supporters of Bago-Stowe resisted what they described as attempts to compromise the credibility of the direct primary election.

According to him, the disputed situation affected Ward D, E, I and H, where supporters of Bago-Stowe opposed this development as refused to signed the purported results.

“We dragged this for hours especially when we saw that photocopies of Orekoya’s party membership cards were allegedly made and handed over to non-party members to deceive electoral officials and allow them vote.

“We saw this and we could not accept it. The same thing allegedly happened in Ward E, I and H..it is unfair, the gains of direct primaries are being undermined, Raji said.

He explained that the APC direct primary election was successfully conducted in Ward A and B, where he claimed Bago-Stowe emerged victorious and agents of the three aspirants signed the results sheets without complaints.

Raji, however, alleged that the situation changed when it became obvious that the contest was not favouring Orekoya and this affected the remaining four wards.

“We have six wards in Somolu Constituency I and the primary election was properly conducted in Ward A and B which Bago-Stowe won and agents of the three aspirants signed the results.

“However, when enemies of democracy allegedly saw the direction of the direct primaries, one of the contestants, especially Orekoya, allegedly decided to mobilise people who are not card-carrying members of the party, particularly non-indigenes, to join queues in the remaining wards,” he said.

The spokesman added that resistance from supporters of Bago-Stowe in the affected wards eventually disrupted the process and prevented completion of the election in the disputed areas.

“All supporters of Bago-Stowe resisted this attempt in the remaining four wards — Ward D, E, I and H. This prevented elections and the returning officer rejected results from these remaining wards because neither Bago Stowe nor Ogara and their agents signed it,” he stated.

Raji further alleged that pressure was being mounted on the returning officer to accept and announce results from the disputed wards in favour of Orekoya.

“The information we are getting now is that the governor has allegedly been pressurising the returning officer to admit results from the disputed wards and declare Orekoya the winner.

“We heard the returning officer telling us that she would not accept the results before she left because of the facts before her.

“Sanwo-Olu allegedly putting pressure on the returning officer for Somolu to announce his cousin as winner is not good for democracy.

“It will be unfortunate if someone now forces her to announce the results in order to favour his family,” he alleged.

He maintained that the returning officer should not be compelled to declare results that remain disputed.

“We do not think she should be forced or arm-twisted in the spirit of democracy to declare disputed results that no agent signed.

“Elections in these four wards remain inconclusive. The agents did not sign, while Bago-Stowe and Ogbara as contestants also did not sign,” he added.

Raji said the alleged interference allegedly by the governor in favour of his cousin would undermine democratic values within the APC if allowed to stand.

Mr Gbolahan Bago-Stowe, a former chairman of Somolu Local Government, is contesting for the APC ticket to represent Somolu Constituency I in the Lagos State House of Assembly during the 2027 general elections.

Other aspirants in the race are Remi Ogbara and the incumbent lawmaker, Orekoya.