Stakeholders in Orile-Agege and Agege Local Government Areas of Lagos State have appealed to former Agege Local Government chairman, High Chief Ganiyu Egunjobi, and Azeez Yusuf to reconsider their defection to the Allied Peoples Movement and return to the All Progressives Congress.
The appeal was made at a peace meeting involving traditional rulers, Christian and Muslim leaders and representatives of the Arewa community, following recent political developments in the area. The stakeholders said their priority was to prevent political disagreements from affecting peace and development in the community ahead of the 2027 elections.
The Alaige of Orile-Agege, Oba Ambaliu Agbeleyi, said concerns over reports of possible violence prompted the meeting. He urged Egunjobi and Yusuf to reconsider their positions and preserve the peace that had prevailed in the community during their years in office.
Similarly, the Olu of Agege, Oba Oyedeji Kamila Ishiba, appealed to politicians and their supporters to shun confrontation, while the Baale of Dopemu, High Chief Shuaib Ajayi, urged political stakeholders to uphold truth and support efforts by community and religious leaders to maintain peace.
The Chief Imam of Dopemu, Alhaji Sulaiman, called on party leaders to intervene in the disagreement and prevail on their members to avoid actions capable of causing violence. CAN leaders, including Apostle J.B. Olubode and Pastor Bayo Jesuniyi, also urged political actors to embrace tolerance and prioritise peaceful coexistence.
Responding, Egunjobi, who is the APM candidate for Agege State Constituency I, said he only became aware of the meeting after being invited by one of the clerics. He described the period as politically sensitive and called on the APC leadership to pursue reconciliation and address grievances arising from its primary election.
Egunjobi claimed that he won the APC primary but that the party subsequently presented another candidate. He said the development should have been followed by a reconciliation process, alleging that neither the APC leadership nor other party leaders had reached out to him to resolve the dispute.
He also said he and his supporters had considered seeking legal redress but were persuaded by the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, not to go to court. Egunjobi further recalled a similar political development involving APC Lagos Chairman Cornelius Ojelabi in 1999.
Despite the disagreement, Egunjobi commended the organisers of the peace meeting and assured residents that the political differences would not result in violence in the community.
