SAN FRANCISCO, July 22, (THEWILL) – A national leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu has stated that the complaints and protests which greeted the party’s primaries for council elections in Lagos state are as a result of its popularity.
He pointed out that complaint is a common feature of democracy but warned that where there are complaints, people should watch out against personal interest.
Noting that “you must have competitiveness if you are a popular party,’’ the former Lagos governor was upbeat that the protests and complaints would not affect the chances of the APC in the council elections.
He spoke on Saturday while interacting with newsmen shortly after casting his vote for the Lagos council elections at about 12:15pm in Polling Unit 026 in Ward F, Ikeja LGA.
According to him, “There is no way you won’t face the turbulence of democracy – the twists and turns and the complaints.
“As we have 57 LGAs and LCDAs, the problem is that, to every slot, you have an average of 13 aspirants. That is the popularity of our party.
“We can only have one chairman; we can only have one vice; we can only have one ward councillor and you have 18 people in a ward fighting for the seat of a councillor.
“Conflict and conflict resolution are the hallmark of democracy. You have to find a way to resolve all conflicts, and we have done so.”
Tinubu disclosed that it was the resolve of the leadership of the APC in Lagos that 18 chairmen of councils be given automatic tickets to complete their terms.
He said, “We are very transparent about the automatic tickets we gave to 18 chairmen.
“We didn’t say don’t contest, we didn’t say don’t run, we didn’t say don’t vote, we didn’t say you are disqualified or that you don’t have right. Nobody abrogated anybody’s right.”
The APC stalwart also disclosed that the large voters’ turnout for the election is indicative that Lagos residents have respect for Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, the ruling APC and local councils.
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