By Ibrahim Kegbegbe
Fresh controversy has erupted within the Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as Mrs. Folashade Tinubu-Ojo, daughter of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and the Iyaloja-General of Nigeria, has threatened to mobilise a mass protest against the outcome of the party’s recent primary elections in the state.
Tinubu-Ojo accused party leaders of manipulating the results of the legislative primaries conducted ahead of the 2027 general elections, alleging that the democratic wishes of party members and grassroots supporters were deliberately subverted.
Speaking during a weekly meeting with market leaders and stakeholders at her office in Alausa, Ikeja, the influential market leader openly rejected the declared results in some constituencies, insisting that genuine winners were denied victory through what she described as “political robbery.”
“We cannot continue to pretend that all is well when mandates freely given by party members are being stolen and handed over to people who did not win elections,” she said.
According to her, the situation has generated deep anger among grassroots APC loyalists, especially market women and community mobilisers who worked tirelessly for the party over the years.
Tinubu-Ojo specifically mentioned Mushin Federal Constituency I, Agege Constituency II, and Ojokoro Constituency as areas where the primary elections were allegedly compromised.
“The injustice that happened in Mushin, Agege and Ojokoro is unacceptable. Those who genuinely won should not be cheated because of political favoritism or internal arrangements,” she declared.
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She warned that unless the party leadership at both the state and national levels urgently intervenes and reviews the disputed results before final ratification, market women and loyal APC supporters may be forced to stage public demonstrations.
“If the right thing is not done, we are ready to take our protest to the streets. We cannot continue to reward loyalty with betrayal,” she stated.
The development is seen as one of the strongest public condemnations of the Lagos APC primary process by a member of the Tinubu family and has further exposed widening cracks within the ruling party in the state.
Tinubu-Ojo blamed the lingering internal crisis in the Lagos APC on the intense rivalry between the two dominant political tendencies within the party — the Justice Forum and the Mandate Movement.
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She alleged that the emergence of the party’s governorship candidate, Obafemi Hamzat, who is believed to be associated with the Justice Forum, created an atmosphere where aspirants linked to that bloc allegedly received preferential treatment during the primaries.
“Politics should not be about factions and superiority battles. Everybody should be treated equally under one APC family. These divisions are destroying the sacrifices and hard work of grassroots politicians,” she said.
Calling for unity within the party, Tinubu-Ojo demanded the immediate disbandment of both political blocs, insisting that factional politics had become dangerous to the survival and credibility of the APC in Lagos State.
“We must scrap these divisions called Justice Forum and Mandate Movement. APC should remain one united family. If this continues, dedicated party members will lose confidence in the system,” she added.
The Merit Newspaper reports that political observers believe the latest development may intensify pressure on the Lagos APC leadership to revisit some of the disputed primary outcomes in order to prevent further internal crisis ahead of the 2027 elections.
The APC primaries in Lagos State have continued to generate mixed reactions, with allegations of imposition, manipulation and internal favoritism trailing the exercise in several constituencies.
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As tensions rise within the party, many stakeholders fear that unresolved grievances from the primaries could weaken party cohesion and affect APC’s electoral strength in Nigeria’s commercial capital ahead of the next general elections.
