Ogun LG Elections: Aspirant Writes Ogun APC Chairman Over The Conduct of Sagamu LG Chairmanship Screening Committee.

The Chairman

All Progressives Congress (APC)

Ogun State Chapter 

APC State Secretariat 

Abeokuta, Ogun State.

Dear sir,

I am Akogun Jamiu Alabi  (Olododo) of Ward 14, Constituency 2, Sagamu Local Government Area of Ogun State. I am a staunch stalwart of our great party, the All Progressives Congress (APC), a Community Leader, former Sagamu Youth President and the Akogun of Makun Kingdom in Sagamu. 

I previously served as Special Adviser on Revenue Matters to the Chairman Sagamu  Local Government(2003-2007) and also served as  consultant on Revenue to Sagamu Local Government(2007 -2010)

Currently, I am an aspirant for the post of  Chairman, Sagamu Local Government Council on the platform of All Progressives Congress.

In compliance with our party's rules and regulations governing the conduct of Local Government elections in Ogun State, I appeared before the Screening Committee for Sagamu Local Government elections today, 3rd September, 2024. 

The Committee was led by its Chairman, Prince Adedoyin our Senatorial Chairman but presided over by a serving Commissioner of Enviroment Hon. Ola Oresanya while the Secretary was Mr. Sulaiman the party Secretary in Sagamu Local Government. Other Members of the Screening Committee are Pa Adelesi, Prince (Engr.) Ade  Adesanya, Alhaji Olokun,  Hon. Funmi Efuwape a serving Commissioner for special duties, Mr. Taofeek Sokoya Ogun State AMORA Chairman, Alhaji Apelogun and Hon. Opa Party Chairman Sagamu local government. 

Other members are Hon Adeniran..current member of Ogun state House of Assembly and Hon Shitta a special Adviser to the Governor.

Expectedly, I responded to all the questions posed to me by members of the committee and tendered all the relevant documents in relation to my aspiration for the Chairmanship of the Local Government.

To my utter dismay, without regards to my calmness, comportment and good performance before the Committee, the Committee digressed unduly from the issues at hand and confronted me with allegation of anti-party activity . They accused me of arresting five members of the party during the last governorship election. 

When I demanded for the names of the people allegedly arrested by me on the said date, Mr. Taofeek Sokoya, a member of the Screening Committee mentioned that I arrested him without mentioning  other people i was alleged to have arrested on election day.

Politely, I explained to the Committee that the reason I got Mr. Taofeek Sokoya arrested by the men of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps during the last governorship election was because prior to the election, Taofeek Sokoya threatened to attack me and to disrupt the voting exercise at my polling unit (Unit 14 - Sopoiki Unit, Ward 14, Constituency 2, Sagamu Local Government Area) without any reasons and true to his threat, he brought hoodlums to my polling unit on the day of the governorship election with guns and other weapons. Taofeek Sokoya  and his political thugs shot sporadically and disrupted the voting exercise at my polling boot which is well known as one of the strongest  polling units for our great party, the APC in Sagamu Local Government because of the high returns of votes for APC in that unit anytime elections are held there.

Apart from Taofeek Sokoya, the other person that threatened me before the election was Hon. Funmi Efuwape the current Commissioner for Special duty ..also a member of this committee. However due to my loyalty to the party and based on the intervention of some party leaders, it was only Taofeek Sokoya that I got arrested due to his display of hooliganism again in ward three of our local Government where he led people to attack Chief Mrs Josephine Makanjuola , a strong and loyal woman leader of our party. Mr Taofeek Sokoya's distruptive activities on election day contributed immensely to failure of our party  in many polling units .

I clearly see this allegation of anti party activity as a diversionary tactics to disqualify me by the Committee in order to pave way to their preferred aspirant and to destabilize my aspiration in the race for the Chairmanship of  Sagamu Local Government Council.

Furthermore and to my utter disappointment, even Alhaji Olokun, a staunch Leader of my ward who duly signed my Nomination Form, among other party faithful, denied having any knowledge of my aspiration and was challenging me for contesting for the post of Chairman in the Local Government. This was also during the screening exercise by the screening committee of which Alhaji Olokun himself is a member.

The screening committee erred in its primary purposes. It cannot constitute itself to either an investigation tool or a disciplinary apparatus. Its job should be strictly restricted to its aims and objectives, which unequivocally, is the screening of aspirants. The membership of some personalities mentioned to have been directly affected by the purported anti-party activity of the aspirant in question should not have been except as complainants or prosecution witnesses. Their inclusion renders the outcome of the screening not credible by all standards. It is not worth considering by the party.

In summary, I observed during the screening exercise that the Screening Committee is strongly biased against my candidature as a leading and acceptable aspirant to Sagamu people and they are determined to unlawfully disqualify me based on trumped up accusation that I arrested some members of the party that disrupted our governorship  election in 2023.

It is my conviction that the Committee is not comfortable with my wide acceptability and strong popularity in Sagamu Local Government and are head bent on stopping me from actualizing my democratic aspiration to be the next Chairman of Sagamu Local Government Council.

MY DEMANDS

1. That leadership of our party should call the screening committee in Sagamu Local Government to order and ensure justice, fairness and equity in the conduct of the committee for the sake of peace and tranquility in the Sagamu Local Government Chapter of APC in Ogun State; 

2. That no aspirant should be disqualified on a flimsy excuse ,malicious and unfounded allegations or by any diversionary tactics to pave way to any preferred aspirant for the election;

3. That any attempt to perpetrate injustice and illegality by the screening committee shall be vehemently resisted by party members and stalwarts in Sagamu Local Government and this will definitely affect the performance of the APC in Sagamu Local Government in the forthcoming Local Government elections and subsequent elections. It is often said that we cannot build legality on illegality;

4. That all lawfully qualified aspirants who are bonafide members of the party should be allowed to freely exercise their right to  franchise by allowing them to vote and be voted for in the party's Chairmanship primaries and/or any other lawful candidates' selection processes as determined legally by the party Leadership in Ogun State.

Yours sincerely, 

Akogun  Jamiu Alabi ( Olododo )

APC Aspirant for Chairmanship 

Sagamu Local Government Council 

Ogun State