APC: Parallel congresses won’t affect upcoming elections ­­– Lagos Chairman

The All Progressives Congress (APC) Caretaker Committee in Lagos State, says parallel congresses by aggrieved groups, will not affect the party in future elections.

APC Caretaker Committee Chairman in Lagos State, Alhaji Tunde Balogun, disclosed this on Thursday in an interview.

Parallel congresses trailed the APC nationwide ward and local government congresses in Lagos state, held on July 31 and Sept. 4, respectively.

While the APC in the state, held its congresses in designated areas, spelt out by the APC Congress Committees, a splinter group within the party, Lagos4Lagos Movement, led by Mr Olajide Adediran, held a parallel congress in different locations.

The caretaker chairman, said that although there were parallel congresses by a group, it would not have any impact on the party in upcoming elections.

“Maybe in few places, there were parallel congresses. Parallel because of people who decided to have things on their own and do things the way they like, but generally in Lagos, we had a very peaceful and successful conduct of the congresses.

“We followed directives of the national body of APC- the National Caretaker Committee.

“If some people decided to have parallel congresses, they had their reasons for that, I don’t know what reasons, but we followed the recommendations of the national caretaker committee.

“They have recommended consensus arrangement for the congresses across the nation,” he said.

Balogun said the party in the state, had grown in leaps and bounds, and so solid and loved by majority of the voters, to be affected by the few parallel congresses.

“APC in Lagos is such a formidable party. It is a leader, a leading party embraced by a lot of the electorate here.

“They want APC in Lagos, it is a party of choice, the party to beat. That is why we continue to win elections after elections.

“You can see the performance of APC in Lagos state. We have a very exemplary governor who has been performing in all places and in all sectors of government.

“The few parallel congresses will not have anything to do with the fortune of our party in 2023,” he said.

According to him, politics is about conflict and conflict resolutions.

He said there was no doubt that there would not be conflicts here and there but it could be minimised.

“That is what we see all over, we are able to manage such conflicts and we are coming out as the best chapter in the federation.

“We are doing a lot of reconciliations; we want to convince people to continue to work peacefully with others, so as to avoid acrimony,” he said.