Published 28th May, 2022

By Daniel Ojukwu

Delegates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Remo constituency, Sagamu, Ogun State, took to the streets on Friday to protest what they described as the imposition of Oriyomi Onanuga as the party’s candidate for the 2023 Federal House of Representatives election.

Residents of the area carried placards to express displeasure with Onanuga, and demand a fair primary election.

In a video obtained by FIJ, some of the residents and delegates could be seen carrying placards which read, “We want free and fair election in APC primary in Remo Federal Constituency“, “Sagamu delegates say no to impunity”, and “No selection, we want election,” amongst others.

FIJ spoke with some of the delegates who asked not to be named, and they said there were attempts by Dapo Abiodun, Ogun State Governor, to impose Onanuga, incumbent member of the House of Representatives, on the delegates.

In his native Yoruba, this delegate said, “We want to vote as delegates, we want a democratic process. The governor wants to impose someone, and the delegates don’t support her.

“Every ward in Remo is opposed to this governor’s favourite. This same thing happened yesterday; we ought to have voted since 2 o’clock but they sent the members of the state assembly representing us to come and plead with us. We only want to vote for the person we believe in.”

He said the delegates preferred to support Olanrewaju George, Onanuga’s opponent, and withdrew their support for Onanuga because they were of the opinion that she had failed to represent them.

“They have always tried to select candidates for us. These candidates then get into the government and fail to represent us. They want to impose Onanuga again but we want Olanrewaju George. This is who we want,” he added.

“The governor simply wants us to write the name of his candidate, select his choice, and go home. We are 175 delegates here at the Sagamu Town Hall, most of these delegates refuse to do this.”

Another delegate told FIJ they had been waiting for over three hours to vote, but the voting process was yet to start.

“It is not the governor who will tell us who to vote for; it is those at the grassroots who understand what is going on here,” he said. “The governor does not live with the grassroots; it is we who are familiar with them.”

When FIJ contacted Kunle Somorin, Abiodun’s spokesman, he said, “I am not aware of it. The governor cannot impose any candidate on anyone; democracy is for all.”

Abiodun hails from Iperu Remo in Ogun State.

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