HOUSE OF REPS: APC, PDP, flex muscles for Ifako Ijaiye bye-election INEC releases 340, 634 registered voters

ALL is now set for today’s bye-election into the Ifako-Ijaiye House of Representatives seat. About 340,634 registered voters, according to the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, are eligible to vote in the election. How Ifako-Ijaiye seat became vacant The seat became vacant following the sudden death of the office holder, Elijah Adewale of the All Progressives Congress, APC at his Abuja residence on July 21, 2016.

He was aged 65 years. In accordance with Section 33 of the Electoral Act 2010, stipulating that in the event of death, that the seat be filled within 90 days, INEC commenced moves to fill the vacant seat. Tough battle for APC ticket The battle for the APC ticket was tough. Three aspirants were in a tight race for the slot. They were Demola Doherty, Yomi Ogunnusi and Abiola Josiah. The fourth contender, Mr. Moroof Adefolabi, died during the last Hajj exercise. To toughen the battle, Tope, the son of the deceased lawmaker, also warmed up to vie for the vacant seat. Mr. Kayode Aremo, personal assistant to the deceased legislator, also showed interest, a development that worsened the crisis within the late Elijah’s faction. It was also touted that Benjamin Olabinjo, who is currently the special adviser to Governor Akinwunmi Ambode on Commerce, and Mr. Adekunle Olayinka, the personal assistant to the Lagos APC Chairman, Otunba Henry Ajomale, initially signalled interest. Most of the decision makers in the party, it was gathered, preferred that a fresh primary be held among the three leading aspirants out of the four that contested and lost to the deceased lawmaker, Elijah. Another camp wanted the exercise thrown open to allow new aspirants. Some party members wanted the Kogi model to be applied where the runner-up in the primary to the then governorship candidate, Abubakar Audu, was picked to be the party flag bearer in the by-election conducted. Party insiders claimed that a former governor of the state with a serving governor in a nearby state later agreed on a choice, Olaitan Nurudeen Akinwunmi, and other aspirants were advised to withdraw. Akinwunmi had served as secretary in the Ifako- Ijaiye Local Government Area, first between 1999 and 2003 and later between 2008 and 2011. While others withdrew, one aspirant from Ojokoro constituency, Owolabi Adisa, refused to back down. Adisa, while addressing newsmen at his Ifako- Ijaiye campaign office recently, cautioned some party leaders involved in alleged imposition of their choice candidate to stop peddling the name of Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to perpetrate their negative attitude towards growth of internal democracy in the party. Adisa, who said the party should rise above such negative culture and embrace internal democracy, maintained that it has since been discovered that Tinubu had nothing in connection with what those leaders were doing to impose their preferred candidate on the party. The APC chieftain, however, maintained that he remained strongly committed, saying nothing would make him quit the party. Adisa, who addressed newsmen alongside his wife, Alhaja Fatimoh, said: “My supporters are aggrieved. I have been calming them down telling them to keep the peace and that things would not continue this way.” Expectedly, the primary was a two-way affair between Akinwunmi who is from Mandate Group, founded by Governor Rauf Aregbesola, and Adisa. Akinwunmi came out tops with 219 votes while Adisa had 166 votes. PDP Reps’ candidate The Lagos PDP also held a primary where Fatimoh Aduke Muhammed emerged as its candidate. She polled 120 votes to defeat her closest rival, Comfort Toyin Oduwole Sonupe, who got five votes. Babatope Akinyele, another aspirant, was said to have boycotted the exercise, which took place at the PDP state secretariat at Sogunle, Ikeja. The exercise was directed by the party’s Vice Chairman, Lagos West PDP, Elder Agbaje, and had some party chieftains in attendance. I33 Ad-hoc delegates voted at the primary but Ward H could not produce any delegate due to alleged internal crisis. 340,634 registered voters for Ifako-Ijaye bye-election”“ INEC Meanwhile, the INEC has said that it has 340, 634 registered voters for the bye-election. Ifako/Ijaiye Federal Constituency has 335 polling units and 687 voting points where accreditation and voting would be conducted simultaneously. The commission has concluded training of 50 Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) and 3,440 corps members for the poll. INEC also held a stakeholders’ meeting with all the participating parties on the need to ensure smooth conduct of the poll where an agreement was reached by all the parties in attendance. Besides, the APC and the PDP, the other parties taking part in the election are Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), African Democratic Party (ADC), and Social Democratic Party (SDP).