The All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State is facing mounting internal grievances as its appeal committee has received over 100 petitions from dissatisfied aspirants following the recently held local government primaries.
The disputed primaries, conducted last Saturday, aimed to select candidates for the upcoming July 12 chairmanship and councillorship elections across the state’s 57 local councils.
The exercise, held at the party’s secretariat on ACME Road, saw candidates emerge through indirect election and consensus arrangements.
However, the outcome has sparked discontent among party members in several areas including Agege, Ikeja, and Somolu, where protesters have taken to the streets to denounce what they described as imposition of candidates by influential party leaders.
In response to the widespread disapproval, the APC constituted an appeal panel on Monday to address the complaints.
The panel, chaired by Lagos State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Lawal Pedro (SAN), has already received petitions from 45 chairmanship and 59 councillorship aspirants.
The party’s spokesperson, Oluseye Oladejo, confirmed the figures and said the committee would complete its assignment by the end of the week.
The deadline for submission of petitions was set for 12 p.m. on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, a civil society organisation, United Action for Democracy (UAD), has called for a thorough investigation into the conduct of the primaries.
Speaking during a press conference in Abule Egba on Wednesday, the group’s General Secretary, Kunle Ajayi, condemned what he described as a subversion of democratic norms, accusing the APC of undermining local government autonomy and excluding grassroots voices from meaningful participation.
Ajayi warned that if the issues surrounding the APC primaries were not resolved, they could set a troubling precedent for the 2027 general elections.
He urged both local and international defenders of democracy to hold political actors accountable and to prevent the erosion of democratic values.
In the wake of the backlash, the APC leadership in Lagos has dismissed allegations of candidate imposition, insisting that the process adhered to democratic standards.
Nonetheless, tensions remain high as party stakeholders await the outcome of the appeal panel’s findings.
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