When the All Progressives Congress (APC) was founded on 6 February 2013 with Lagos State serving as the party’s stronghold, none of the founding fathers envisioned that the President, Bola Tinubu, and the former minister of Interior, Rauf Aregbesola, would have disagreement on issues that could affect any of their political status in the state, but 12 years after, the relationship between them has degenerated, forcing the Osun State former governor to leave the party and his disciples left in the APC particularly in his stronghold, Alimosho City, now wander around without a strong voice to push for their demands.
The party members, who once occupied all political offices including council chairman seat in Alimosho under Aregbesola’s umbrella, do not have any candidate for the July 12, 2025 council election after its aspirants for the chairmanship seat across the six Local Government and Local Council Development Area (LCDAs) lost during the local government primaries conducted by the party in the state.
This developments during the primaries held across the six councils, Alimosho Local Government, Egbe-Idimu, Ayobo-Ipaja, Mosan Okunola, Igando-Ikotun, and Agbado Oke-Odo LCDAs, have crushed the age-long political structure created and controlled by Aregbesola through his representative, Abdullahi Enilolobo, who held the structure together after their leader assumed office as the Osun state governor and later as minister under the Buhari led administration.
The structure which was once used as the negotiating power for the group during the 2023 election has been pulled down during the 2025 local government chairmanship primaries by the party members who were said to be loyal to two other groups controlled by the Special Adviser to the President on Sustainable Development Goal (SDG), Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, and the other to a former lawmaker, Bisi Yusuf.
As gathered, the members of the Aregbesola’s dynasty had approached the council chairmanship primary held inside the party’s secretariat in Ikeja with the aim to retain tickets of the six councils as it was during the former minister’s reign but the results announced after the exercise sent a shocking wave across Alimosho.
In the results announced by the electoral committee led by APC former publicity Secretary, Babatunde Ogala, the aspirant sponsored Yusuf picked the chairmanship ticket for Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA. The aspirant, Abiodun Agbaje, won the primary with 23 votes.
Also in Egbe-Idimu LCDA, Balogun Idris, the aspirant from the Orelope-Adefulire camp won with 17 votes, while Kazeem Adeniran and Egunjobi Rasak polled eight votes and one vote respectively.
Sources close to Orelope-Adefulire said that the winners of the chairmanship primaries for Mosun-Okunola, Alimosho, and Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA were members of her camp while Igando-Ikotun LCDA chairman, Lasisi Akinsanya, who was once loyal to the Aregbesola group, got his second term ticket through his personal relationship and efforts and not from the Osun former governor’s group.
A party chieftain, who does not want his name in public considering that he was not authorised to speak, disclosed that Akinsanya was about losing the ticket but the intervention of the party chairman, Cornelius Ojelabi, who acted based on the relationship between him and the council boss, saved the day for him.
He added that the chairman got the ticket after promising to stay away from the Aregbesola structure which has been considered as a threat to the progress of the party in Lagos.
While Akinsanya is rejoicing that he scaled the primary hurdle, other members of the group who lost during the primaries could not get their voices to the party’s leadership in Lagos.
An agent to one of the chairmanship aspirant told the Guild that the reason their voices could not be heard was the link they still maintain with the former minister who the national leader of the party, President Bola Tinubu, had instructed that their remnants be uprooted from the council.
The female agent from Alimosho urged the members to distance themselves from the group and start aligning with other groups to avoid losing out completely in the government that is expected to assume office after the July 12 election.
According to her, despite the huge inducement of the delegates to cast their votes for them particularly those from Egbe-Idimu where Enilolobo resides, they lost because the party members understand that to continue having any engagement with Aregbesola would amount to anti-party act.
Another male chieftain of the party in a short interview with our correspondent inside the party secretariat in Ikeja disclosed that some members of the group in Egbe-Idimu LCDA have started reaching out to the other groups, in other to remain relevant within the party.
He said: “I believe you could hear the conversation I had on the phone few minutes ago. The caller is one of the Egbe-Idimu LCDA chairman, Kunle Sanya-Olu Olowoopejo’s aide who has left the council boss to pitch his tent with the Orelope-Adefulire group.
“I know this will happen because the council chairman, who is a senior member of the Aregbesola’s group, has serve his term and efforts to secure the party ticket for their member has proven abortive.
“This primary was the only thing still giving the group any relevance within the party and since they could not achieve their aim during the LG primaries, it is obvious that they have lost out completely and the structure does not exist in Alimosho again.
“This is why the victory for many who had endured the torture from the Aregbesola’s group are rejoicing today that the group’s structure has been pulled down completely within Alimosho”, he added.
