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By Sunday Ani
Ahead of the 2027 general elections, the chairmen of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the 57 local councils of Lagos State, comprising 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas, have vowed to resist all forms of threat, intimidation and suppression of people’s voting right and the right to freedom of association in the state.
This was disclosed by the chairman of chairmen and Ibeju-Lekki ADC chairman, Ugochukwu Anaere, at a press conference over the weekend.
He made reference to the alleged threat by the Lagos State Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Mustapha Adekunle, aka Sego, on Friday, October 4, 2025.
He decried Sego’s threat that anybody, particularly Lagos residents, who belong to another party outside the All Progressives Congress (APC) or perceived as a member of opposition parties, particularly the ADC, will be punished.
“On Friday, October 4, 2025, Lagos residents woke up to witness one of the most careless, barbaric, uncivilised, provocative, impunitive, intimidative and dreadful threatening statements aimed at killing, victimizing and punishing anyone who is a real or perceived opposition member in another political party. And particular mention was made of the burgeoning African Democratic Congress (ADC) and its faithful in Lagos State. The statement was credited to Mr. Mustapha Adekunle, aka Sego, the current Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Lagos State Chapter,” he said.
He stated that Sego wants to repeat what his predecessor, MC Oluomo, did during the 2023 general elections, when he forcefully stopped eligible voters from voting for their preferred candidates, and went scot-free, warning that such development would be resisted in 2027 because no one person has the monopoly of violence.
“Many Nigerians are ready to resist such act of intimidation this time around, as the country belongs to all of us and no individual has the monopoly of bad behaviours.
“Some weeks ago, a carefully planned coalition welcoming event at the instance of the ADC was literally turned into a crime scene in Alimosho Local Government area, where these same elements, working in concert with some law enforcement agents, maimed some of our party faithful, destroyed and carted away property running into millions of Naira,” he said.
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He equally emphasised that such threats coming from the NURTW Chairman, less than two years before the 2027 general election and the Federal Government not doing anything about it, portends grave threat to the peaceful conduct of the election.
“It is a signpost of violence that is to come. It is a pointer to their preparedness to unleash mayhem during the elections in 2027 and are we going to fold our arms and watch them carry out this threat?” he queried.
Calling on the concerned authorities to act fast to avert the impending crisis, he said: “By this international press conference, we are simply saying that we do not want our voices, as the grassroots leaders of our party, to be silenced and the fortunes of the party eclipsed. We do not want ballot boxes to be snatched, stolen, grabbed-at-gun-point or people sustaining matchet cuts and bruises at the polling units anymore as 2027 approaches.
“We do not want our members and leaders to be intimidated, harassed or brutalized by any individual or groups of persons under any guise anymore. We appeal to you, gentlemen of the press, to use your media platforms to ventilate these grave concerns of ours and cause relevant national and subnational authorities to take adequate steps to secure our votes and protect the lives and property of Nigerian voters, irrespective of their state, religion, creed, party affiliations and so on,” he said.
The chairmen also accused the Federal Government of covertly supporting such brigandage, stressing that if the contrary was the case, the perpetrators would have been arrested and prosecuted by the police.
They also called for a constitutional amendment to pave the way for electoral reforms in such a way that the appointment of the electoral umpire should not be left in the hands of the president alone.
They argued that the sanctity of the 2027 elections cannot be guaranteed unless certain aspects of the 1999 Constitution (as amended) and the 2022 Electoral Act were amended. “As it is presently constituted, we believe the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is truly not independent and we urgently demand that the powers to appoint the leadership of the electoral umpire should not be vested with the President.”
They also commended INEC’s efforts in the ongoing voter registration exercise, saying, “We commend INEC for its diligence so far. We urge and advise the Commission’s personnel to take their tools to the remotest parts of the land in order to ensure that eligible Nigerians are captured and their data updated to enable them exercise their fundamental right to vote and be voted for.”
