Lagos governorship aspirant under the APC, Dr. Samuel Mawuyon Ajose, has rejected moves to impose a consensus candidate, insisting the race must remain open and competitive.
Speaking in an interview on ARISE News on Wednesday, Ajose said the process must be transparent and fair to all aspirants.
“We are not in a battle, we are in a contest. And the contest needs to be free and fair.”
His comments follow the endorsement of the deputy governor, Obafemi Hamzat as a consensus candidate by party leadership and the Governor’s Advisory Council.
Ajose questioned the basis of the decision, especially after aspirants had already purchased nomination forms.
“If our leadership in Lagos had decided that they wanted to go by consensus, then they shouldn’t have been sending the forms to us.”
“A whole lot of people have invested money in these forms. And you just come and give us a shortcut.”
He also said no formal communication had been made to him regarding any consensus arrangement.
“No leadership has reached out to us to discuss any consensus. Everybody is still telling me, go and mobilize your base, both statewide and nationally.”
Ajose maintained that consensus is allowed within party rules but must follow due process.
“Even if you are talking about consensus, how do you talk about consensus when you don’t even know how many people are contesting in the race?”
He positioned his candidacy as a representation of marginalised communities, particularly in Badagry.
“I’m not just in this race just because of myself. I’m in this race because I’m representing the people that have been neglected for 57 years.”
“What the Badagry people are saying is that, are we not part of Nigeria? Are we not part of Lagos?”
On his qualifications, Ajose pointed to his private sector experience, arguing it gives him the capacity to manage Lagos’ economy.
“I am the CEO of Levitical Groups. We are into real estate, we are into construction, we are into manufacturing. We have over 300 workers that are Nigerian workers.”
“If you have somebody that has a pool of workers that are over 300 and you are not struggling to pay them at the end of every month, I think that person has the capacity to be able to run an economy.”
He contrasted his background with that of the endorsed candidate, noting differences between public and private sector experience.
“The difference between me and His Excellency, Dr. Hamzat, is that Hamzat has been in government and everything that he has been doing has been funded by the government.”
“But I’m someone who… I have my own people… we are paying them directly.”
On transparency, he said he is willing to make his tax records public.
“The last tax I still paid personally this year is 21 million. Last year, I paid 20 million. The previous year, I paid 18 million as an individual.”
Despite his objections to the consensus move, Ajose signalled openness to party unity after a fair contest.
“You need to understand that we are in a contest, we are not in a battle. And whoever gets to the front first, we will celebrate that person.”
Faridah Abdulkadiri
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