Coalition Demands Zoning of Lagos APC Chairmanship Post

Adoga Michael Oyi


President Buhari discussing with APC National Chairman, Chief John Odigie-Oyegun at the NEC meeting in Abuja on Monday

Coalition of Lagos Progressives in the All Progressives Congress (APC) has demanded that the party should allow the chairmanship of the party in the state to rotate to other senatorial zones.
The coalition said besides the position rotating, Chief Henry Ajomale, the state chairman of the party, should step aside after 14 years as chairman of the Action Congress (AC), the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) and the APC.
The group said there was need for change in the system not only in the interest of fair play, but in order to inject new blood in the system.
According to the group in a statement signed by Mr. Taoridi Jinadu Akapo, “Lagos State is a state of extraordinary diversity and as such, one of extraordinary complexities. These complexities are a reflection of the avalanche of ethno-cultural and socio-political groups co-habiting the territory and the intricacies of interaction among them.
“Indeed, Nigeria adventure into pluralism of religious and ethnic diversities owes its origin to colonial conquest which permeated the entire continent of Africa begninng from the Lagos Colony which is presently known and called either Lagos Division or Lagos senatorial district.
“Perhaps cognisance of the existence of latest threats to the future political stability of the emergent nation-state, the founding fathers were desirous of a system of government that would neutralise the political threats and accommodate the divergent interest of the various socio-political groups. This desire eventually found expression in the power sharing/power rotation arrangement in its system of politics and government as a diversity management technique.
“But it must be stated here that, with the advent of the 1999 political formation, there has been a profound change in the practice of party politics in the state in the sense that, the system has been practiced in an awkward manner and this has called into question the manner of a lopsided power sharing/representation formula.
“Given this background and against the fact that the operation of the system per se started 1999, what is the continued relevance of the power sharing/representation idea in Lagos State? This is against the background of hiccups experience so far with the system and its attendant implications for political stability. Further to the above question, what are the sources of the present worry over adaptability of the system power sharing/representation in Lagos State and what are the future hopes for politically stability when the most prosperous part is being relegated into obscurity and odium?
“The practice of liberal democracy is overshadowed by the clamours for political zoning and other power-sharing arrangements as mechanisms for zonal and administrative balancing. This has been alluded to the capacity of such informalities for conflict mitigation and consensus formation in plural societies. Drawing motivation from this, is a traditional paradigm of power rotation among the administrative divisions of Lagos State comprising Ikeja, Badagry, Ikorodu, Lagos and Epe (IBILE) Divisions. We base our demand on the conventional practice of zoning and rotational access to political power intersect with identity politics and the ideals of liberal democracy in Nigeria.