Angry APC members descended on the party's Lagos secretariat in Ikeja on Tuesday morning. They came to protest what they called serious irregularities in the primaries held two months earlier.
The party had conducted House of Assembly and House of Representatives primaries back in May. Winners were announced, but the celebration didn't last long.
Party members and losing aspirants began questioning the results almost immediately. They insisted the outcomes didn't match what actually happened at the polling stations.
Protesters from six different constituencies showed up at the secretariat. Among them were members from Amuwo Odofin, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Oshodi-Isolo, and Somolu areas.
They demanded the APC leadership cancel disputed results and launch investigations. Appeal committees, they said, must look into what went wrong.
House of Representatives aspirant Ayodele Adewale led the charge in Amuwo Odofin. He filed a petition attacking the primary process in all 11 wards.
According to Adewale, there was no official membership register when accreditation started. Party officials accredited voters using unofficial APC slips without proper checks.
He wants the appeal committee to nullify the entire election in the constituency. Proper accreditation and voting processes must be investigated, he insisted.
David Doherty, an Assembly aspirant in Amuwo Odofin Constituency II, painted an even darker picture. He claimed armed men fired guns during voting in riverine wards.
Party members fled in fear, Doherty told reporters. He alleged the process lacked transparency from start to finish.
Aspirants weren't allowed input on key decisions before the election, he noted. He's demanding the results be cancelled and those responsible be punished.
In Ajeromi-Ifelodun, petitioners alleged widespread result manipulation and collation irregularities. Electoral officers didn't show up at the official collation center, they claimed.
Vote inflation in certain wards happened, the petitioners said. Accreditation procedures were also badly done or skipped entirely.
They want ward-level results verified and disputed sheets examined forensically. Someone needs to check those signatures too, they added.
Prince Hakeem Ola spoke for protesters from Amuwo Odofin Constituency II. He said what happened to Doherty was simply unacceptable and unjust.
Party members deserve freedom to pick their representatives, Ola told the crowd. Democracy requires credible processes, not backroom deals.
Ola claimed Doherty actually won the primary election in the constituency. Party leaders are now trying to reverse that outcome, he alleged.
Oluwasola Olugbemi, a protester from Agege Local Government, warned against candidate imposition. Ignoring what party members want destroys democratic principles entirely.
It undermines the whole election process, Olugbemi argued. Members from Oshodi-Isolo and Somolu also filed complaints with the party leadership.
