Abeokuta, Ogun State: — Concerned members of the Labour Party in Ogun State have raised alarm over what they describe as an “attempted administrative coup” following the conduct of the April 25, 2025 State Congress, alleging unauthorized replacement and substitution of the names of officers who participated, and were declared winners under the supervision of regulatory agencies.
The congress, held on April 25 in Abeokuta, was monitored and observed by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Nigeria Police Force, and the Department of State Services (DSS), in line with Section 82(5) of the Electoral Act 2022 and INEC guidelines on party congresses.
According to party members present at the exercise, the process was concluded with a list of duly elected officers and delegates ratified on site. However, reports circulating within the state chapter indicate that a different list containing substituted names has surfaced on the party's loop by one Mr. Akeeb Adesola, a childhood and political ally of one former gubernatorial aspirant in the state who for long has had his eye on hijacking the party structures, known to be a transactional and sleepy sleeky politicians through an unholy alliance consumated by him with the PDP in 2023 general elections, subverting and mismanaging the financial proceeds emanating from the deal is now the Hackman allegedly replacing those who emerged through the monitored process.
Most recently, while Apagun was addressing the press on the matter, he stated unequivocally that "democracy dies not with a bang, but with the quiet stroke of a pen replacing what the people have already chosen. What we are witnessing in the presumed actions of the National Working Committee is not party administration. It is the deliberate erasure of due process and the substitution of the will of the people with the convenience of a few."
“This is not just an internal disagreement. It is an attempt to subvert the will of the members and undermine the integrity of an exercise witnessed by INEC, the Police, and DSS, and a report to that effect should be brought forward by the Congress Committee as appointed by the National leadership or that of the official report by the INEC, to substantiate their claims, a party elder from Ogun Central said. “If the original list observed by the authorities is not upheld, it will erode trust in the party and expose us to avoidable litigation.”They will have to show us where their purported Congress took place with evidence said another.
Members warn that proceeding with the substituted list risks plunging the party into another round of legal battles similar to those that have previously distracted and decimated the Labour Party across the nation. They argue that such a move contradicts the party’s constitution and national directives on adherence to due process and observed procedures.
The uproar within the ranks and file has grown in recent days, with ward and local government executives calling for urgent clarification and corrective action. Several members have immediately left the platform while others threatened to approach the courts if the national leadership fails to intervene and restore the outcome of the April 25 congress as monitored.
“We are drawing the attention of the National Chairman, the National Working Committee, to this development,” a statement from the concerned members reads. “Silence or inaction at this stage will be interpreted as endorsement of impunity, and the party will bear the consequences.”
They are urging the national leadership to:
1. Retrieve and compare the list submitted to the national secretariat against the list signed and observed by INEC, Police, and DSS on April 25.
2. Uphold the original outcome of the congress in line with the Electoral Act and party guidelines.
3. Discipline any official found culpable of altering or substituting the names of duly elected members.
4. Re-engage stakeholders in Ogun State to prevent further escalation and preserve party unity ahead of upcoming political activities.
The Labour Party national secretariat has not issued an official response as of press time.
Aside Ogun State labour Party, there have been reported case in different states like Oyo, Kogi, Plateau and others that the names of the Congress duly elected persons were either changed or outrightly jettisoned for Abure led group or certain loyalists who never partake in any State Congress. Is this not impunity?
The party's National Convention in Umuahia, Abia State approved the States Congresses and Invalidated the Abure congresses. For the National Leadership to revert to otherwise calls for concerns that the party's BOT must look into.
Party observers note that unresolved disputes at the state level have historically led to protracted legal disputes that weakened the party’s electoral performance. With 2027 approaching, members say the handling of the Ogun situation will signal whether the party intends to enforce internal democracy and genuine intentions to win the upcoming general elections or tolerate administrative manipulation.
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