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Two political allies of Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa have left the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) after losing the party’s tickets for the Agege Constituencies I and II seats.
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Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi and Azeez Oladapo Yusuf Ninolowo had emerged winners of the APC primaries before the party’s subsequent review produced Oluwagbenga Abiola and Enimakure Akindele Sakiru as its candidates.
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Egunjobi, who polled 9,132 votes in the Agege Constituency I primary, had publicly challenged the APC’s revised outcome, alleging that the result announced by the party did not reflect the votes recorded at the primary.
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The defections deepen the political fallout from the Lagos APC primaries in Agege, even as Obasa, who survived a leadership crisis in the Assembly earlier in the year, has secured the APC ticket to contest the Agege Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
September 17, (THEWILL) – Two close political allies of the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, have defected from the All Progressives Congress (APC) to the Allied Peoples’ Movement (APM) after losing the APC tickets they had initially secured for the 2027 Lagos State House of Assembly election.
The affected politicians are Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, who is seeking to represent Agege Constituency I, and Azeez Oladapo Yusuf Ninolowo, an aspirant for Agege Constituency II.
Their move to the APM comes against the backdrop of controversy surrounding the APC’s handling of its Agege Assembly primaries, where both men were initially declared winners before the party subsequently released another list naming different candidates for the two constituencies.
Egunjobi had won the APC primary for Agege Constituency I with 9,132 votes, according to reports of the initial exercise. Ninolowo was also reported to have emerged victorious in Agege Constituency II with 8,299 votes. Both men had been backed by Obasa ahead of the primary.
However, the APC’s final list of Assembly candidates later named Oluwagbemiga Abiola for Agege Constituency I and Sule Shakiru Akindele for Agege Constituency II.
The reversal triggered protests and complaints from supporters of the initial winners, with demonstrators converging on the Lagos APC secretariat to protest what they described as the substitution of candidates who had won the primaries.
Egunjobi subsequently challenged the outcome, insisting that he won the primary and was declared winner at the venue.
He said records from the various voting centres showed that he secured 9,132 votes, while Abiola polled 434 votes. He alleged that the party hierarchy later announced Abiola as its candidate despite the results he claimed were available to electoral and security authorities.
The controversy has since become one of the major sources of tension within the Lagos APC ahead of the 2027 elections, particularly in Agege, a constituency where Obasa has exercised considerable political influence.
Obasa’s Role
Before the primaries, Obasa had openly backed both Egunjobi and Ninolowo.
At a stakeholders’ meeting in Agege, where he declared his intention to contest the House of Representatives seat, the Speaker urged APC members to support Egunjobi for Agege Constituency I and Ninolowo for Agege Constituency II.
Obasa described Egunjobi, a former chairman of Agege Local Government, as a politician who had served the people diligently, while canvassing support for Ninolowo in Constituency II.
The two men subsequently emerged winners of the initial APC Assembly primaries in Agege.
But the subsequent changes to the party’s candidate list meant that Obasa’s preferred candidates were left without the APC tickets they had initially secured.
The development also came after protests over the Lagos APC primaries spread to the party secretariat in Ogba in June. Protesters accused the party of altering results and demanded that the initial outcomes in Agege Constituencies I and II be respected.
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While his two allies were pushed out of the APC Assembly race, Obasa himself secured the ruling party’s ticket for the Agege Federal Constituency seat. He emerged as the APC candidate unopposed during the party’s House of Representatives primary held in May.
Reports said the primary was conducted across the 13 political wards in the constituency, with delegates endorsing his candidature.
Obasa had announced his intention to move from the Lagos Assembly to the House of Representatives after more than two decades in the state legislature. He has represented Agege Constituency I since 2003 and is currently serving as Speaker of the Lagos Assembly.
His emergence as the APC’s candidate for the federal constituency contrasts sharply with the fate of his two Assembly allies, whose initial victories were subsequently overturned by the party.
The Speaker had also faced one of the most serious leadership crises in the history of the current Lagos Assembly earlier in the year, when he was removed from office by lawmakers before returning to the position after a political intervention.
The latest defections therefore add another dimension to the political contest in Agege, where the APC will have to manage competing interests among its members while preparing for the 2027 elections.
Felix Ifijeh is a journalist with years of professional reporting experience. Known for his keen news sense, compelling storytelling and commitment to accurate, impactful reporting, he has built a reputation for turning leads into clear, engaging, and well-structured reports that resonate with readers. His work reflects deep newsroom experience and a commitment to accurate, impactful journalism.
