Lagos: Obasa has no hand in our defection – Ex-members Agege LG boss, Egunjobi, Yusuf

Former Chairman of Agege Local Government, Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, and former All Progressives Congress (APC) House of Assembly aspirant, Azeez Oladapo Yusuf, have dismissed reports linking their defection from the party to the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa.

The duo, who contested the APC tickets for Agege Constituencies I and II respectively, said their decision to leave the party and contest the 2027 elections on the platform of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) was taken independently, following their grievances over the outcome of the APC primary elections.

In a statement on Thursday, Egunjobi and Yusuf said Obasa “had no hand whatsoever” in their decision to leave the APC, insisting that they were mature politicians capable of taking responsibility for their political choices.

“We are mature politicians, adults and parents capable of taking responsibility for our political decisions. We therefore consider attempts to attribute our defection to another individual unnecessary and misleading,” they said.

The development comes after both politicians emerged as APM candidates for Agege Constituencies I and II, respectively, following their departure from the APC.

Explaining their reasons for leaving the ruling party, the former aspirants said their decision was primarily triggered by what they described as the injustice surrounding the APC primary elections in their constituencies.

Egunjobi claimed he scored 9,132 votes in the Agege Constituency I primary, while Gbenga Abiola polled 434 votes. In Constituency II, Yusuf said he secured 8,299 votes, while Hon. Sakiru Sule Enimakure recorded 31 votes.

Earlier reports also documented Egunjobi’s claim that he won the Agege Constituency I primary with 9,132 votes and that the result was subsequently altered by the party.

According to the duo, the primaries were witnessed by officials of relevant government agencies, including the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Department of State Services (DSS).

They said they initially remained in the APC and pursued internal mechanisms to resolve the dispute, including submitting petitions to party leaders.

“Unfortunately, despite the seriousness of our complaints and the fact that the party leadership was aware of our petitions, we were never invited for any meaningful reconciliation meeting where the issues could be properly addressed,” they said.

The politicians also rejected suggestions that their defection was influenced by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, saying they were unaware of any directive from the President regarding the disputed primary outcomes.

“We are not aware of any such directive from the President,” they said, adding that repeatedly invoking the President’s name without evidence could mislead party members and obscure responsibility for decisions taken at other levels.

The duo said they remained in the APC through difficult periods and contributed to the growth of the party, insisting that they only decided to leave after what they described as the denial of mandates they believed they had legitimately secured through the primary process.They also rejected the suggestion that their movement to the APM was engineered by Obasa.

Their position contrasts with earlier reports that described Egunjobi and Yusuf as political allies of Obasa and linked their defection to the fallout from the Agege APC primary dispute.

The politicians acknowledged Obasa’s previous political support during the APC primary process but maintained that such support did not make him responsible for their subsequent decision to leave the party.

“We wish to make it abundantly clear that Rt. Hon. Mudasiru Obasa neither directed nor encouraged our defection. We made the decision ourselves and we are prepared to take full responsibility for it,” they said.

They said their move to the APM was a response to their experience with the APC primary process and what they described as the failure of the party leadership to provide a satisfactory avenue for reconciliation.

“Our concern is not about individuals. It is about fairness, due process and respect for the mandate of party members who participated in the primary elections,” they said.

They urged political parties to strengthen their internal democratic mechanisms by ensuring that genuine grievances are heard and resolved rather than ignored.