Tension is mounting in the All Progressive Congress, APC, in Iru Victoria Island LCDA over a purported attempt to impose one Murisiku Ajasa, a younger brother of Oba Omogbolahan Lawal, Oniru of Iru land, as the party’s candidate in the forthcoming local government election.
The attempted imposition was said to have been exposed after some local leaders met a few days ago to plan the adoption of Ajasa.
Party members are said to be miffed by the plan, which is discounting several well-grounded, robustly qualified, loyal and consistent aspirants, who have age-long history of loyalty to the party as founding members since 1998, and also since the creation of the LCDA in 2003.
The alleged imposition, sources close to the development said, was spearheaded by one Muideen Abayomi Daramola, vice chairman of APC Lagos central, former council chairman and a chief in Iru land, using his position of advantage to hatch the plot.
A party member, who chose not to be mentioned for fear of persecution, claimed the plot actually took place a day after LASIEC timetable was released at Abayomi Daramola’s home.
At the meeting, Oba Oniru’s name was reportedly dropped as the sponsor of Ajasa, who is not well known in the party, having joined the party a couple of years ago.
The second angle to this alleged, contentious adoption is located in the age-long rivalry between the Justice Forum, a political group, and the Mandate Group another political caucus.
Reports said that from the inception of the LCDA in 2003, the Justice Forum has always been in the saddle, seeing leadership of the council as its traditional stronghold by consistently producing the council chairman/ vice chairman, including the tenure of outgoing Princess Rasheeda Abiodun Adu.
The current plot is to have Adu succeeded by another Prince Murisiku Ajasa, in a conspiratorial fashion that makes succession to the leadership position look like a birthright.
It would be recalled that the foundation chairman, Mr Aleshinloye, was unjustifiably and abruptly removed from office after just one term through a written petition by former Oba Idowu Abiodun Oniru over sundry issues bordering on absenteeism and unsubstantiated allegations of curruption.
His removal had paved the way for the emergence of one of their own, an acclaimed Prince Abayomi Daramola a.k.a Arobadade in 2008.
After Daramola’s two terms, he was re-appointed as sole administrator for a year before the election that brought in his sucessor.
Specifically, he was replaced by another of their own, Princess Rashida Abiodun Adu, who clinched the position against all odds and stiff oppositions.
The eight-year tenure of Rashida Adu, the incubent chairman, will be rounded off in July.
Together, both have spent a total of 15 years in the saddle as council bosses.
Party members are reportedly worried that another Prince [Ajasa] is preparing to take over.
Party members are also worried over the determination by the natives to hijack and monopolise the council leadership.
A party member said that “Iru Victoria Island LCDA is a cosmopolitan community, where the natives are not even up to ten per cent of the total population,” and wondered why the hijack of the chairmanship position and exclusion of non natives who are in the majority.
He condemned the brazen ill treatment of the majority, saying that the minority natives would need the majority non natives to win election in the council area.
Party members are also complaining that the only federal appointment to the LCDA was allegedly hijacked by Daramola for his son, who is not even a politician and who never contributed a dime to the party.
He was said to have, overnight, claimed to be a prince from Oniru royal family. He (Babatunde Daramola-Oniru) is said to be an Executive Director in FERMA.
A party member lamented: “What kind of dirty politics is going on in Iru V. I LCDA, politics of total annihilation, bitterness, and total exclusion of the general populace?”
Another party member, Olawale Kareem of Ward “E” 1004/transit village, who claimed he decided not to go to ward meetings again due to the glaring abandonment by local party leaders who see the council as their common inheritance/ partrimony, said there had been no democracy dividends for the vast majority of party members.
According to him, “If Asiwaju Tinubu had played similar politics, he wouldn’t have become president of Nigeria today. Life is give and take. No champion reigneth for ever.
“Muideen Abayomi Daramola’s overbearing influence in the party is too much; after all, when he came to join the party from opposition PDP from surulere LG, he met some people on ground already who accommodated him before using his palace influence to override every other interest.
“The question is, why must it be only him all the time, to the extent he was nicknamed “Mr Arrangee?
“Again, I am not a religious bigot, but if I may ask, why is it that all the council chairmen and vice chairmen produced from the inception of the LCDA are all Muslims? Are they saying nobody from the Christian faith can be chairman or vice? The Christian association of Nigeria CAN, in the LG has not been taking this likely.
“This is not good for our fledging democracy. People of all shades must be accommodated.
“The Oniru, whom all residents, community groups, political class and even the corporate organisations hold in high esteem, must dissociate himself from this group of people in order not to bring their dirty stains near the sacred royal stool.
“He must not be associated with what has become an “incessant imposition” by some very greedy politicians who think nothing is impossible unless if done with his blessings, which many doubt so much in view of his background and exposure.”
Shola Ogunbowale, another party stalwart in Iru V.I. said that the reverred monarch was just coming out of one controversy and outrage surrounding the initial impeachment of Mr Mudashiru Obasa the Speaker of Lagos State House of Assembly, only to be Insinuated again into this issue, as Ajasa’s sponsor, pointing out that this would not argur well at all for his image.
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