Ward congress: Ogun East APC stakeholders, Appeal C'ttee trade claims over petitions
Ogun East Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have faulted the claim by members of the APC Ward Congress Appeal Committee that there was no petition received concerning the
Ogun East Stakeholders of the All Progressives Congress (APC) have faulted the claim by members of the APC Ward Congress Appeal Committee that there was no petition received concerning the party's ward congress conducted in the state on Wednesday.
The Ogun East Stakeholders alleged that the Appeal Committee merely treated issues pertaining to the congress conducted by a faction of the party but left theirs unattended, apparently to disenfranchise thousands of loyal party members.
The Appeal Committee had earlier on Friday claimed that it had not received any petition from aggrieved members or groups on account of the just concluded congress across the 236 wards in the state.
Chairman of the committee, Comrade Philip Shuaib, who made the claim during a press conference at the APC State Secretariat in Iyana Mortuary, Abeokuta, said that since the conclusion of the ward congress, no formal complaint or petition had been submitted to the committee.
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He said: "The Ogun State APC ward congresses conducted on the 18th of February, 2026, were very peaceful and followed the party's guidelines. We have not received a single petition from any aggrieved member or group.
“As we speak, I haven't received any petition from anybody since the conduct of the ward congress."
But countering Shuaib through a statement, the APC Ogun East stakeholders, who are largely loyal to Senator Gbenga Daniel, noted that the authentic congress supervised and monitored by them, as provided for by the party constitution, was not acknowledged.
The statement signed by General Olumuyiwa Okunowo (rtd), Akogun Kola Onadipe, Giwa Niyi-Osoba, Otunba Korede Okusanya, Princess Ronke Oduneye, Barr. Babatunde Adesanya and six others disclosed that they have also submitted former petitions to the National leadership of the party over the conduct of the ward congress in the state.
The statement reads: "Our attention has just been drawn to a news report circulating quoting some members of the Ogun State APC Ward Congress Appeal Committee to the effect that there was no petition received on the conduct of the exercise.
"We need to state clearly that this is far from the truth because the Appeal Committee merely addressed the Congress conducted by a faction of the Party and failed to acknowledge the peaceful, legitimate and authentic Congress supervised by the APC Ogun East Stakeholders/Leaders Stakeholders Forum in line with the statutory procedures publicly advertised by the National leadership of our great Party.
"It is greatly unfair to sidestep these very important guidelines and procedures to disenfranchise thousands of loyal party members who have put their fate in the hands of our party's national leadership and follow through on their guidelines and directives, many of whom also paid the statutory fees into the Party's account to procure the forms for the exercise.
"It is equally important to State that petitions have been submitted to the National leadership through the office of the National Chairman as well as to the National Reconciliation Committee led by His Excellency, Alhaji Mai Mala Buni, expressing the fears and anxieties of some members of our party on the prospective conduct of the Congress in Ogun State.
"Some members of our party fear that the Congress allegedly endorsed and referenced by the Appeal Committee were mere fait accompli to fan a specific agenda which can also be injurious to the Renewed Hope Agenda of Mr. President because it has to establish a "No Contest" situation.
"The Leadership of the Party, which has been vested in the Governor in Ogun State, is never in contest, but this responsibility cannot be without consultation with other stakeholders of the party towards arriving at a Consensus
"We wish the party would look into this with a view to addressing the legitimate concerns of these thousands of party members"
