Three aspirants for the House of Representatives seat in Ojo Federal Constituency, Lagos State, on the platform of the Nigeria Democratic Congress have petitioned the party’s national leadership, alleging that no valid primary election was conducted and that a candidate was imposed on them.
The aggrieved aspirants, led by Godwin Ezeoke, called on the party to cancel the outcome of the exercise and conduct a fresh primary.
In a petition obtained by our correspondent on Tuesday and addressed to the National Chairman through the National Secretary, Ezeoke alleged that party officials announced a winner despite the absence of a primary election.
The petition, signed by legal practitioner C.C. Iloabanafo, described the action as “unprecedented, unlawful, unconstitutional, undemocratic, and arbitrary.”
Ezeoke accused some party officials, including the chairman and secretary, of disregarding the party’s constitution and guidelines by failing to conduct the primary before announcing a candidate.
He warned that the development could expose the party to litigation, reputational damage and possible electoral sanctions.
“The declaration of a winner without an election has generated widespread dissatisfaction, tension and distrust among party members within Ojo Federal Constituency,” he stated.
Corroborating the allegation, another aspirant, Ifeanyi Okparaugo, said there were no electoral officials at the venue of the scheduled exercise.
“There was no election. I only saw people queuing with no electoral officials in sight. When I asked questions, I was ignored,” he said.
Okparaugo also alleged that officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission were absent from the venue.
A third aspirant, Ola Ogunlana, similarly maintained that no primary election was held.
“If they claimed there was a primary, they should provide visual evidence because there was nothing that looked like an election,” he said.
The aspirants further alleged that the venue for the exercise was funded by a fellow aspirant rather than the party, raising concerns about the credibility of the process.
They urged the National Working Committee to nullify the purported result, withdraw recognition from the declared winner, conduct a fresh primary and set up an independent panel to investigate the exercise.
Responding, the party’s spokesperson, Osa Director, said a reconciliation committee had been established to address the dispute.
“We have set up a reconciliation committee. I want that thing to percolate to the state, local government and ward levels,” he said.
The director admitted that not all aggrieved members had been brought on board but expressed confidence that the matter would be resolved soon.
He said, “We have not been able to completely have everybody on board. In the next 24 to 48 hours, we will do that. We don’t want even one single person to leave on account of one person.”
