APC primaries: Democratic competition not war, but competition of ideas — Hamzat

Dr Obafemi Hamzat, the Lagos State Deputy Governor and All Progressives Congress (APC) 2027 governorship consensus candidate, on Thursday said democratic competition should be about ideas and development rather than violence and conflict.

Hamzat spoke with newsmen after participating in the APC governorship primary election conducted through the Option A4 voting system at his Ward A4, situated at AUD Primary School, Oke-Balogun, Epe.

“Democratic competition is not a war, it is a competition of ideas on how to we move our people forward.

“If our intention is to move people forward and develop the state,why do we need to fight.

“Our party has never been involved in conflict or war, we do things peacefully. As we can see, peaceful people are in joyous mood. That is the momentum we are taking to the elections,” he said.

He said the party would approach the 2027 election with programmes and policies aimed at promoting the progress of the state.

The deputy governor said the APC would focus on presenting its manifesto and vision for sustainable development to residents instead of engaging in hostilities.

“It is not about fighting. We will come out with our manifesto, we will come out with our programmes and what we want to do to elevate our state.

“We will tell Lagos residents that we understand history, issues and the geography of our state and that we are the best party to deliver in building the state.

“We are committed to building a state that can last, to build a state that our children and grandchildren can all be proud of.

“So it is a competition of ideas, we are not fighting, it is not war,” he said.

Hamzat also commended members of the party’s electoral committee and loyalists for ensuring what he described as a peaceful, fair and transparent primary elections across the state.

He added: “Everybody stood up and waited to be counted and at the end of the day, we have seen the numbers in the ward.

“We must thank all the party members for coming out en masse to vote and for believing in the party and the democratic credentials we are trying to build which Mr President is building for this country.”

According to him, reports from across the 245 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) wards in Lagos State indicated that the exercise was conducted peacefully.

“This process is happening across all the 245 INEC wards in Lagos State.

“The reports we are getting is that it is peaceful all across the state and we are grateful,” he said.

Our correspondent reports that APC members in Epe Division trooped out en masse at the ward to endorse Hamzat for the 2027 Lagos governorship election.

Party leaders, youths, women groups and ward executives from Epe in separate interviews with NAN described Hamzat as experienced, loyal and capable of sustaining ongoing infrastructural and economic development across the state.

Speaking, a party leader, Alhaji Adekunle Kila, described the process as fair and transparent, saying party members had freely chosen Hamzat as their preferred governorship candidate.

“We have made our choice known by voting for the present Deputy Governor, Dr Obafemi Hamzat, to be our next governor,” Kila said.

In his remarks, Mr Olasupo Moshood-Giwa, representative of Dr Obafemi Hamzat Youth Ambassador in Lagos State, said the group mobilised coordinators across Epe Division in support of the deputy governor.

“Today, we have come to show our solidarity to our own son of the soil in Epe.

“We have seen it loud and clear that the entire youths of Epe Division are behind Dr Obafemi Hamzat,” he said.

Declarating Hamzat as the winner at the ward after the Primary, the APC Governorship Primary Returning Officer for the ward, Mr Kayode Eleshin, said that the ward had 2, 720 registered party members out of which 2,432 were accredited.

Eleshin declared that three governorship aspirants were contesting but one Dr Samuel Ajose had withdrawn, remaining Hamzat and Mr Olanrewaju Jim-Kamal.

At the end of the exercise, Eleshin said that Hazmat polled a total of 2,210 votes as against zero votes polled by his opponent.

“As the returning officer of this ward, I declare Dr Obafemi Hamzat as the winner of the primary,” Eleshin said.

Speaking with our correspondent, the agent of Hamzat, Mr Agoro Musbau, who expressed excitement about the turnout of party members, described the exercise as being credible and transparent.

Earlier, Retired General Jonathan Temlong, the Chairman of the seven-member 2026 APC Governorship and House of Assembly Primaries for Lagos State ,said that the democracy had taken deep root in the state, considering the peaceful and orderly manners party members conducted themselves.

Temlong commended party members for the peaceful conduct of the exercise across the state.

He said the process complied with the guidelines issued by the APC National Headquarters, as well as the Electoral Act and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, noting that democracy had “truly taken root” in the state.

“We want it to remain a peaceful process because it is the people who are giving their mandate to whoever will lead them from 2027.

“There should be no coercion, while everything must be done according to the rules of the game,” he said.

The committee chairman, who also monitored the exercise in Epe, said officials deployed for the primary had been provided with the necessary materials and directed to conduct the election in line with laid down procedures.

Speaking, Lagos APC Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, commended party members for the peaceful conduct of the exercise, saying the process complied with APC guidelines, electoral laws and democratic principles.

Ojelabi urged members to remain orderly and avoid violence, noting that the election was meant to allow party faithful freely choose leaders for the 2027 governorship election without intimidation.

He said the committee visited Epe to monitor the process firsthand and expressed satisfaction with the conduct of members, while praising ongoing infrastructural development in the area.