The All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Representatives primary election held in Lagos Mainland on Saturday was marred by controversy following allegations of widespread irregularities, voter intimidation and disruptions across several voting centres. 

The aggrieved delegates spoke in separate interviews in Lagos on Saturday.

The disruption was reported in areas including Apapa Road, Makoko, Iwaya, Adekunle and Old Yaba Road, where party members and delegates were allegedly intimidated and prevented from freely participating in the exercise. 

The development created tension and confusion, as aggrieved members accused some party leaders of attempting to manipulate the process in favour of a preferred candidate.

According to eyewitnesses and party members, supporters of Kazeem Omolaja allegedly disrupted the exercise by forcing out participants and delegates of one of the six House of Representatives aspirants, Abdulhakeem Animashaun, from the voting centres in the affected areas.

Speaking after the exercise, some loyalists of Mr Animashaun rejected the outcome of the primary election, insisting that the process failed to meet acceptable democratic standards.

“We reject whatever outcome emerges from today’s election because the process was flawed and manipulated,” one of the supporters stated during the protest.

Party members present at the election grounds further called on the APC leadership to investigate the allegations and ensure justice for all aspirants and their supporters.

Security personnel were deployed to some of the affected centres to maintain law and order and prevent the situation from escalating further.

The APC leadership in Lagos Mainland had yet to issue an official statement regarding the allegations and the disruption that marred the exercise.

Samson Sambaqi, one of the APC delegates in the Mainland area, described the election as incredible.

He said that no election took place in any of the wards under the Mainland Local Government, and described the election as marred by irregularities among the party officiating leaders.

“There are so many touts chasing us with harmful objects. We are no longer comfortable with the oppression,” Mr Sambaqi said.

Also speaking, Ganiyu Allison, urged APC leaders to look into the election, adding that a person was counted about five times, which he said showed there was no equity in the primary election in the Mainland area of Lagos.

Another delegate, Folake Ogunlade, who also voted in the municipal area along Apapa Road, said the election was inconclusive.

She said she witnessed families come in and be counted one after the other without accreditation or party identification cards.

In his response during a briefing following the election process in the Mainland area of Lagos, Mr Animashaun said the primary election was neither free nor fair.

Mr Animashaun said that before today, the delegates in his constituency were very happy to witness a peaceful election by the APC, to which he belongs.

He lamented the desperation of some individuals, which took centre stage, adding that delegates were disappointed with the inconclusive election as a result of the disruption.

“Information we have before today is that all delegates should come with their membership registration slips and means of identification.

“To our surprise, when we got there, they asked everybody to line up without any form of accreditation. Aside from that, those who conducted the primaries did not show any form of identification, not with any tag, nor a result sheet.

“The election materials were shown to party agents, and before we knew what was happening, they commenced the process of counting. They counted one person five times while the same person would go and queue for another council,” Mr Animashaun said.

Other aspirants also expressed disappointment with the conduct of the primary election in Lagos Mainland. 

(NAN)