By Bilesanmi Abayomi
Tension within the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Kosofe Federal Constituency has intensified following reactions to comments by the incumbent House of Representatives member, Hon. Kafilat Adetola Ogbara, rejecting the outcome of the party’s recent primary election.
Ogbara, who represents Kosofe in the House of Representatives, had appeared on a TVC programme where she described the outcome of the primary as “political intrigues, rumours, and fabrications” and alleged that the results were “written by someone else.”
Her comments have since triggered reactions from party members, civic groups and community stakeholders, who have called for sportsmanship and unity within the party ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Stakeholder Questions Consistency
Reacting to the development, President of the Ta’awun Humanitarian Forum, Lagos, Taiwo Lasisi, expressed surprise at Ogbara’s position, arguing that her emergence as the party’s candidate ahead of the 2023 general election also followed an internal party process.
Lasisi recalled the political developments preceding the 2022 election, noting that the APC had to accommodate the interests of several political heavyweights, including the then-incumbent House of Representatives member, Hon. Rotimi Agunsoye, and the current Commissioner for Waterfront Infrastructure, Hon. Yakub Ekundayo, popularly known as Bushra, before Ogbara eventually emerged as the party’s candidate.
He argued that the process did not result in public allegations of manipulated results from the other aspirants.
“The aftermath of that election never witnessed allegations of this type by the current incumbent MHR. None of the aspirants then issued public statements of being aggrieved, nor did they describe the primary results as being ‘written by someone else,'” Lasisi said.
He urged political actors to recognise that fortunes change in politics and that both victory and defeat should be handled with maturity.
Stakeholder Defends Oshinowo’s Emergence
Meanwhile, another stakeholder, Gbemi Ketiku, defended the integrity of the recent APC primary, insisting that the exercise was conducted in accordance with the party’s guidelines and supervised by a duly constituted electoral committee.
Ketiku said registered party members across the 10 wards of the federal constituency participated in the exercise, resulting in the emergence of Mayor Dele Oshinowo as the preferred candidate.
“To claim to ‘have the numbers’ after the process has been concluded, without demonstrating that support among the members who actually voted, is to misunderstand the democratic process we all subscribed to,” Ketiku said.
He maintained that electoral outcomes should be determined by the votes cast during the recognised process rather than competing narratives or claims of popular support.
Calls for Party Unity
Other APC stakeholders have similarly argued that Oshinowo’s emergence reflects the outcome of the party’s internal electoral process and called on members to close ranks ahead of the general election.
Ebenezer Olatunji, a party member, questioned the continued rejection of the internal process and reminded stakeholders that the party leadership remains responsible for submitting its final list of candidates to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Olatunji urged Ogbara to accept the outcome, learn from the political experience and work with other party members to preserve the unity of the APC in Kosofe.
The stakeholders stressed that continued disagreements over the primary could weaken the party’s preparations for the 2027 elections, urging all sides to prioritise party cohesion and the broader interests of the constituency.