The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on Wednesday rejected comments made by former Osun State governor, Rauf Aregbesola, suggesting that defections of governors to the party would not influence the outcome of the 2027 elections.
In a statement issued by its spokesperson, Oladejo Seye, the party argued that Aregbesola’s remarks were an attempt to highlight the opposition’s symbolic victory in Lagos during the 2023 presidential election. The APC said it was necessary to set the record straight and address what it described as “sweeping conclusions and convenient omissions.”
The statement read: “First, it is intellectually disingenuous to isolate Lagos from the broader national picture. President Bola Ahmed Tinubu emerged victorious in the 2023 presidential election not by accident, but by building the widest national coalition, winning the constitutional spread, and securing the mandate of Nigerians across diverse regions.”
The party stressed that presidential elections are determined nationally, not by the outcome in a single state: “To suggest otherwise betrays either a poor grasp of electoral realities or a deliberate attempt to mislead.”
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On the opposition’s win in Lagos during the presidential poll, the APC described it as inconsequential: “The so-called opposition ‘victory’ in Lagos was pyrrhic at best. It neither altered the national outcome nor endured beyond that single contest. Just days later, during the governorship election, Lagosians reaffirmed their confidence in the APC by returning the party to office.”
The statement further highlighted APC’s dominance in subsequent elections: “Even more instructive, subsequent off-season bye-elections across the state produced sweeping victories for the APC, a clear and unmistakable reflection of the party’s enduring control, structure, and grassroots acceptance in Lagos.”
The party also argued that the Lagos presidential election results did not undermine Tinubu but rather strengthened his democratic credentials: “Far from diminishing President Tinubu’s stature, the Lagos presidential election results enhanced his democratic credentials. The fact that an opposition candidate could win in a state governed by his party underscores the integrity of the process under his watch and silences any lingering doubts about his democratic ethos.”
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