The reconciliation meeting called by the All Progressives Congress (APC), Lagos chapter, on Monday ended in chaos as suspected political hirelings from Lagos Mainland reportedly took over the venue of the stakeholders’ meeting, at the Acme Ogba headquarters of the party were reportedly assaulted by the thugs, and many stopped from accessing the meeting room.
The meeting was reportedly called to close fissures caused by the primaries of the party. The meeting was called by the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), for noon on Monday.
A source says that the protest is as a result of substitution of names of those who won their primary elections into the House of Assembly.
A video that went viral showed some senior party executives being harassed with sachets of water thrown and them and some being rough handled by some of the thugs at the event. The suspected political thugs were allegedly from two contending factions of the party from Mainland, with a retiring member of the House of Representatives (name withheld) said to be the leader of one of the groups.
However, the disruption caused by the hirelings, frustrated the agenda and the deputy governor of the state, Dr Femi Hamzat, had to make an appearance along the line, to calm frayed nerves.
Another prominent party leader, Honourable Fouad Oki, also addressed the gathering, according to a present source.
The meeting was later rescheduled, without a definite date.
The state governor, Babajide Sanwoolu, who was absent at the meeting, is to now chair the rechecked parley.
The leader of the party in Lagos Central senatorial district, Prince Tajudeen Olusi, has also been mandated to intervene in the crisis and resolve the lingering crisis.