The political pot in Agege is boiling again, and this time two familiar names have found themselves at the centre of the latest drama.
Former Agege Local Government Chairman, Chief Ganiyu Egunjobi, and Azeez Yusuf have been expelled from the All Progressives Congress (APC) in a development that has added fresh fuel to the already combustible political atmosphere in the constituency.
The Lagos State chapter of the APC announced their expulsion on Wednesday, accusing the two politicians of anti-party activities, disloyalty and conduct it said ran contrary to the discipline expected of its members. The decision, signed by state chairman Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, was said to have been taken pursuant to Article 9(5)(II) of the APC Constitution, as amended in 2022.
But beneath the formal language of party discipline lies a more intriguing political story.
Both Egunjobi and Yusuf had sought the APC’s tickets for Agege Constituencies I and II respectively. When the dust settled around the disputed primaries, however, neither man emerged as the party’s choice. Gbenga Abiola and Sakiru Enimakure were recognised as the APC candidates.
Rather than quietly disappear from the political scene, Egunjobi and Yusuf took their ambitions elsewhere. Both subsequently emerged under the banner of the Allied Peoples Movement, APM, turning what began as an internal APC disagreement into a much more interesting political battle.
The APC, apparently unwilling to have its former aspirants contest the same seats on another platform, has now slammed the door behind them, declaring that they are no longer members and have no authority to speak or act on behalf of the party.
Yet Egunjobi and Yusuf have their own version of events. The duo have rejected the expulsion, insisting that they resigned from the APC in July, before the party announced their removal. They argue that one cannot expel people who had already walked away voluntarily.
And then there is the Obasa angle.
Both men have long been described in political circles as associates of Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa, making their departure particularly juicy in the context of Agege’s complicated political alignments.
But in a joint statement, Egunjobi and Yusuf were quick to distance the Speaker from their decision, insisting that Obasa neither engineered nor influenced their departure from the APC. They maintained that their decision was theirs alone and stemmed from grievances su rrounding the nomination process.
Agege finds itself with a fascinating political subplot: the APC has its chosen candidates, Egunjobi and Yusuf are flying the APM flag, and the political network around one of Lagos’s most closely watched constituencies is being tested once again.
The expulsion may have formally ended Egunjobi and Yusuf’s chapter in the APC. Politically, however, the story appears far from over.