APC's National Working Committee turns back on Lagos primary election

The national working committee (NWC) panel of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in charge of the governorship primary election in Lagos State has turned its back on the conduct of the election.

The election took place in hundreds of wards on Tuesday, October 2, 2018, with a former commissioner, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, contesting against incumbent,Governor Akinwunmi Ambode.

With emerging results indicating that Sanwo-Olu is leading Ambode with a wide margin, the Clement Ebri-led electoral panel has raised objections about how the election was conducted.

While speaking during a press conference on Tuesday evening, Ebri said the panel had been waiting to get some information from the state chaper before going forward with the election.

He said, "We want a victory that will be credible, and will be in line with the guidelines and rules. We are now ready to do the ground running. In the next few minutes, I will contact the national office to inform them that we are now ready for the primary.

"We were waiting for the Lagos APC chairman to provide some information, but it came barely an hour ago. We have the electoral materials here but considering the Lagos situation, traffic and all, we will wait on the national office for action.

"The stage is set and the election will begin any time from now. We will let you know as soon as officials come to get materials."

UPDATE - Sanwo-Olu beats Ambode

With confusion over the state of the election late on Tuesday, the Lagos State APC chairman, Tunde Balogun, announced the result of the election that the NWC already dissociated itself from. Sanwo-Olu polled 970,851 votes, hundreds of thousands of votes more than Ambode's 72,901 votes.

Balogun announced, "I am aware that conflicting information has been circulating on our primary election, but I must tell you that the election was held and it was free and fair.

"It would be very painful to disenfranchise the over 1.5 million members who voted across the 245 wards in the state."

After a meeting with President Muhammadu Buhari late on Tuesday, APC national chairman, Adams Oshiomhole, dismissed the NWC's cancellation of the election and directed the panel to make Sanwo-Olu's victory official.