Politics
How APC Chairman, Tunde Balogun Manipulated LG Primaries – Apapa LG Chairman
The crisis surrounding The All Progressive Congress (APC) local government primary election in Lagos is yet to be doused as more allegations against the leaders of the party have emerged.
Several members have expressed their displeasure and one of the latest aggrieved party is the Local government chairman of APAPA LG, Owolabi Adele.
He has accused the chairman of the Party in Lagos State, Tunde Balogun, who is also from Apapa local government of manipulating the election with use of thugs and causing unrest in the primary election that took place weeks ago.
“Honorable Tunde Balogun has caused so many unrest to the community due to his greed and imposition of the present vice chairman of the council to emerged as the chairman of the local government after the election, while the incumbent chairman won the election with evidence of results”
He also revealed that the Lagos APC Chair told him to settle for the position of the Vice chairman if he wants to be in the council, while the Present vice chairman becomes the chairman of the LG despite the fact that the election was in his favour.
In a letter signed sent to NEWSEXTRA, Honorable Owolabi Adele called on the election committee to intervene while accusing the Lagos APC Chair of imposition, gross misconduct and thuggery in the just concluded LG Primary Elections.
Read Appealed letter below to the election appeal committee.
STRONG APPEAL TO REMEDY TO REMEDY THE GROSS INJUSTICE AND DISTRIBUTION OF APAPA LOCAL GOVERNMENT CHAIRMANSHIP AND COUNCILLORSHIP PRIMARY ELECTIONS HELD ON SATURDAY 29TH OF MAY 2021.
The All- Progressive Congress Primary election which held on Saturday 29th May 2021, in the 20 LGs and 93 LCDAs of Lagos State commenced respectively in all the 5 words of Apapa Local Government but abstractly disrupted by thugs, cult members and miscreants hired by Hon. Tunde Balogun, the state party Chairman and his preferred and anointed aspirant in person of Kelvin Gabriel.
In view of this development, I am humbly seeking for the intervention of the Election Appeal Committee concerning the unwanted disruption of elections across the 5 wards of Apapa Local Government with the final aim of manipulating the process of choosing our party candidates in the upcoming general elections.
It came as a dismay to all party faithful that no primary election was held in all the 5 wards of Apapa Local Government.
The election day started well behind schedule as the training of the electoral officials and distribution of materials were delayed till past 12noon on Saturday.
After distribution, electoral officials and election materials were transported together in a convey carrying all electoral officials in the same vehicle instead of individual transportation to their respective venue. Some of the electoral officials and materials didn’t get to their various voting centers until about 1pm. This is one of many tactics deployed by the State Chairman (Hon. Tunde Balogun) for his preferred candidate(Hon. Kelvin Gabriel) and the house of representative member Hon. Mufutau Egherongbe and their group to thwart election processes in the local government.
WARD A
Reports emerging reliably from Ward a was that Mr. Kazeem Giwa, Babatunde Kakawa and Jimoh Ohis (Hon. Tunde Balogun’s boys) ( with Pictorial evidence attached), disrupted all efforts to commence accreditation of party members so as to begin election process. All these occurrences took place right in front of police personnel that were deployed to ensure peaceful conduct of election. ( Pictorial evidence tagged annexure A1)
WARD B
In ward B, when electoral officials eventually got to the voting centers at 12:35pm, party members were orderly lined up waiting for the election process to start. The faithful party members (Team Adele) who were ready to cast their votes overwhelmed the crowd of Hon. Tunde Balogun and his preferred candidate Hon. Kelvin Gabriel. It was obviously that if the electoral officers had conducted the election, I would have won convincingly.
After the set up of election furniture’s and just before the commencement, one Taiwo Adedipe (An aspirants and one of hoodlums of Hon. Tunde Balogun) announced that he has finally decided to step down for anothercandidate and demanded that all supposedly votes in his name should be counted for the person he stepped down for. After much deliberations, electoral officers decided that accepting his assertion will amount to electoral fraud, hence each vote counted will be registered against its rightful owner/aspirant.
While all this was going on, there was no form of violence until the electoral officers got calls from the local government electoral chairman that primary elections had been cancelled in all LGs and LCDAs in Lagos State and before anyone could do or say much, the materials and agents were hijacked by the same Taiwo Adedipe (agent &thugs of Hon. Tunde Balogun), who kicked the ballot boxes and carted away the rest of the materials.
There was no form of resistance from either the party members.
WARD C
Similarly in ward C , after the electoral officer eventually showed up at about 1pm, it iwas discovered that the electoral officer came with the wrong electoral register, being the one for 2014 instead of the recently conducted party re-registration register which took place earlier in the year. As a result of this, party members became agitated when they could not find their names in the register despite having their party membership slips with them at the electuions venues. (with videos & pictorial evidence). More so, hoodlums emerged from nowhere and started shooting sporadically into the air in an attempt to disperse party members from the venue. Again, these were part of the calculated plans to disrupt the election process in the local government by the Hon. Tunde Balogun.
Ward D
In ward D, where the electoral officer had announced that the councillorship aspirant is running unopposed because the other aspirant was not cleared earlier before the election day, leaving only the election for chairmanship at stake.
Afterwards, two party members were eventually accredited and allowed to vote, only for one Mr. Kunle to announce that elections would not hold for reasons best known to him despite not being the assigned electoral officer, Thereafter, another well–known hoodlum used by Hon. Tunde Balogun known as Dada Ogunyemi [ A.K.A dada]. snatched the accreditation list from the electoral officer and ran away with it . After so much agitation from party members . one of the electoral officer was able to take the remaining electoral materials to the police, [Evidences tagger annexure A2 & A3]
There was a glimpse of hope but sadly , the mode of the operandi that were witnessed in other WARD reared its ugly head again to disrupt the processes in this ward too.
WARD E
As usual, the electoral team even came later than as witnessed in other ward! The were being transported from ward before finally getting dropped at Ijor Olaoye Primary school which further delayed the process in ward E, thereby arriving at about 1.30pm.
The election process started peacefully despite the late arrival which can be attributed to the resolute determination of party members to cast their vote at a cost. Unfortunately, only 2 electoral officers out of 5 showed up for the exercise party member insisted for election to go ahead as they were prepared to be the councilor and chairmanship aspirant in this election to insist that election would not hold, thereby causing pandemonium at the venue.
In view of this development, Apapa electoral officer Mrs. Adebayo Monsurat was asked if the election should go ahead despite the absence of the other agents. Mrs. Monsurat therefore requested to make a phone call informed Mrs. Babatude Olaoluwa, who by their conversation on that telephone call informed Mrs. Adebayo Monsurat that the election had been cancelled state-wide.
Upon the announcement of the state-wide cancellation, party members became more agitated and made calls across the state to confirm the purported cancellation only to find it to false . it was after this that Mrs. Monsurat herself later admitter [on camera] that only Apapa Local government primary election were cancelled. The source of the authority of the cancellation is still UNKNOWN.
Party members decided there and then that their own ward elections would hold but unfortunately after several hours. This didn’t happen till they all reported themselves peacefully at the Area B police command in Apapa.
[Evidence tagged A4 where Samson Aromire was being begged by the deputy state chairman of NURTW- Alh. Sulaimanojora and Mr. Kunle Azeez.( Popularly as Kunle Poly for more than 2 hours to allow election take place).
video evidence also available of all these happenings.
After the materials had carted away, we decided that our followers (Team Adele) should continue to maintain the orderliness so that we would be able to count their numbers for the sake of future evidence that we were orderly, ready for election in massive numbers. As there was no way Team Tunde Balogun would have beaten that crowd of people.
These are the numbers of party members from Team Adele who were to cast their votes:
Ward A = 233
Ward B = 323
Ward C = 397
Ward D =313
Ward E =1817
(There are pictorial and video evidences showing the lines up and orderliness while the counting was going on).
The heinous act of the hoodlums as experienced in the 5 wards of the local government was discovered to bee a con pictorial attempt targeted at ensuring that the primary election process is truncated and eventually prevented from taking place as scripted by APC State Chairman, Hon. Tunde Balogun and acted by his co-conspirators, thereby undermining the sacrosanct internal democracy that the party is known for.
Hon. Tunde Balogun knew the majority of people were not on his side and that is why he chose this path.
Our appeal is that the will of the people prevails by declaring for another primary election in a well supervised and secured environment in the shortest time possible or alternatively declares me as the candidate of the party.
(Attached are evidence tagged as annexure B1 – B8 where our teeming supporters in respective wards were orderly prepared, waiting for election to take place).
There are videos evidences of all the election processes at the different ward and also written reports of other electoral officers at different wards.
Thank you for your assistance, while accepting the assurance of our best regards always.
Yours faithfully,
Hon. Owolabi Elijah Adele
Executive Chairman
Customs at the Crossroads: When Lawmakers Look Away and the Executive Looks Aside
By Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi
In a democracy, legislative oversight is the scalpel that cuts through deceit, inefficiency, and corruption in public institutions. It is the people’s last institutional shield against abuse of power. But what happens when that shield becomes a shelter for the very rot it is meant to expose? And what happens when the Executive arm, whose duty is to supervise its agencies, pretends not to see?
The unfolding drama between the National Assembly and the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) reveals more than a policy dispute. It exposes a dangerous triangle of confusion, complicity, and economic sabotage. At stake is not only the rule of law but the survival of an economy already gasping under inflation, a weak naira, and suffocating costs of living.
The House Talks Tough
In June 2025, Nigerians saw a glimpse of legislative courage when the House of Representatives Committee thundered at Customs:
> “Nigerian Customs Service, by June 30, must not collect CISS again. You are to collect only your 4% FOB assigned by the President. Even the 7% cost of collection you currently take is illegal—it was an executive fiat of the military, not democratic law. Any attempt to continue these illegal collections will be challenged in court. The ‘I’s have it.”
The voice was firm, the ruling decisive. Nigerians expected a turning point.
But the righteous thunder of the House was quickly muffled by the Senate’s softer tone, which suggested not the enforcement of the law but a readiness to bend it.
Senate: Oversight or Escape Route?
At a Senate Customs Committee session, Senator Ade Fadahunsi admitted openly that Customs has been operating illegally since June 2023. Yet rather than demand an end to illegality, he extended a lifeline to Comptroller-General Bashir Adeniyi:
> “If we come back to the same source… the two houses will sit together and see to your amendment so you will not be walking on a tight rope.”
But should Adeniyi be handed a loose rope while Nigeria’s economy hangs by a thread?
Instead of accountability, the Senate Customs Committee floated adjustments that would make life easier for Customs. The nation was given hints about fraudulent insurance and freight data, but instead of sanctions, what we saw was a search for escape routes. This is not oversight—it is overlook.
Smuggling and Excuses
The Senate Committee also lamented cross-border smuggling—Nigerian goods like cement flooding Cotonou, Togo, and Ghana at cheaper prices than in Nigeria. Senator Fadahunsi blamed the Central Bank’s 2% value deposit for encouraging the practice.
But where are the Senate’s enforcement actions—compliance checks, stiffer sanctions, cross-border coordination? None. The result is predictable: smugglers prosper, reserves bleed, and ordinary Nigerians pay more for less.
A Bloated Customs Budget
The Service’s 2024 capital allocation ballooned to ₦1.1 trillion from ₦706 billion. Instead of channeling these resources into modern trade systems, Customs is expanding empires of frivolity—such as proposing a new university despite already having training facilities in Gwagwalada and Ikeja that could easily be upgraded.
Oversight is not an afterthought; it is the legislature’s constitutional duty. To see waste and illegality and yet propose amendments that would legalise them is to turn oversight into overlook.
Customs has about 16,000 staff, yet many remain poorly trained. Rather than prioritise capacity building, the Service is busy building staff estates in odd locations. How does Modakeke—an inland town with no border post—end up with massive Customs housing projects, while strategic border towns like Badagry, Idiroko, and Saki remain neglected? Is Bashir Adeniyi Comptroller-General of Customs—or Minister of Housing?
The 4% FOB Levy: A Policy Blunder
The central controversy is the Federal Government’s plan to replace existing port charges with a new 4% Free-On-Board (FOB) levy on imports.
Nigeria is an import-dependent nation. This levy will instantly hike the costs of cars, spare parts, machinery, and raw materials—crippling industries and punishing consumers.
Already, the consequences are biting:
A 2006 Toyota Corolla now costs between ₦6–9 million.
Clearing agents who once paid ₦215,000 for license renewal must now cough out ₦4 million.
New freight forwarder licenses have jumped from ₦600,000 to ₦10 million.
Customs claims the revenue is needed for its modernisation programme, anchored on a software platform called B’Odogwu. But stakeholders describe this so-called “Odogwu” as epileptic—if not comatose. Why commit trillions to a ghost programme that will be obsolete by January 2026, when the Nigerian Revenue Service is set to take over Customs collections?
Industry Raises the Alarm
The Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) has warned that the levy will worsen inflation, disrupt supply chains, and hurt productivity.
Lucky Amiwero, President of the National Council of Managing Directors of Licensed Customs Agents, calls the levy “economically dangerous.” His reasoning is straightforward:
The 4% FOB levy is much higher than the 1% CISS it replaces.
Peer countries like Ghana maintain just 1%.
The new levy will fuel inflation, raise the landed costs of goods, and destabilise the naira.
He also revealed that the Customs Modernisation Act, which introduced the levy, was passed without Senate scrutiny or meaningful stakeholder consultation. He estimates that the levy could add ₦3–4 trillion annually to freight costs—burdens that will be transferred directly to consumers.
Who Is Behind the “Odogwu” Masquerade?
The haste to enforce this levy, despite its looming redundancy, raises disturbing questions. Who benefits from the “Odogwu” project draining trillions? Why the rush, when NRS will take over collections in a few months?
This masquerade must be unmasked.
The Price Nigerians Pay
For ordinary Nigerians, this policy translates into one thing: higher prices. Cars, manufactured goods, and spare parts are spiraling beyond reach. A nation struggling with inflation, unemployment, and a weak currency cannot afford such reckless experiments.
So, while the Senate looks away, the Executive cannot look aside.
The Executive Cannot Escape Blame.
It is easy to focus on the failings of the legislature. But we must not forget: the Customs Service is an agency of the Federal Ministry of Finance, under the direct supervision of the Honourable Minister of Finance, Mr. Wale Edun.
If Customs is breaking the law, wasting resources, or implementing anti-people policies, the buck stops at the Executive’s table. The Minister of Finance is Chairman of the Customs Board. To fold his hands while the Service operates in illegality is to abdicate responsibility.
History gives us a model. In 1999, the Minister of State for Finance, Nenadi Usman, was specifically assigned to supervise Customs and report directly to the President. Meanwhile, Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala focused on broader fiscal and economic policies. That division of responsibility improved accountability. Today, the absence of such an arrangement is feeding impunity.
President Tinubu and his Finance Minister must act decisively. Oversight without executive will is a dead letter.
A Call to Accountability
The truth is stark:
Customs has been operating illegally since June 2023 to the Senate’s own confession.
The 4% FOB levy will deepen inflation and worsen economic hardship.
The Ministry of Finance bears ultimate responsibility for Customs’ conduct.
Until importing and consuming, Nigerians demand accountability—of the Comptroller-General, the Senate, and above all, the Finance Ministry—this bleeding will continue.
Nigerians deserve better. They deserve a Customs Service that serves the nation, not a privileged few. They deserve a House that enforces its resolutions, not one that grandstands. They deserve a Senate that upholds the law, not one that bends it. And above all, they deserve an Executive that does not look aside while illegality thrives under its ministry.
Only public pressure can end this indulgence. If Nigerians keep silent, we will keep paying the price—in higher costs, weaker currency, and a sabotaged economy.
Citizens’ Charge: Silence is Not an Option
Fellow Nigerians, the Customs crisis is not a drama for the pages of newspapers—it is a burden on our pockets, our businesses, and our children’s future. Every illegal levy is a tax on the poor. Every abandoned oversight is an open invitation to corruption. Every silence from the Executive is an approval of impunity.
We cannot afford to fold our arms. Democracy gives us the power of voice, the duty of vigilance, and the right to demand accountability. Let us demand that:
The Senate and House of Representatives stop playing good cop, bad cop, and enforce the law without compromise.
The Ministry of Finance takes full responsibility for the Customs Service, supervising it in the interest of Nigerians, not vested interests.
The President intervenes now, before the Service crosses the dangerous line of turning illegality into policy.
History will not forgive a people who suffered in silence when their economy was bled by recklessness. Silence is complicity. The time to speak, to write, to petition, to protest, and to demand is now.
Customs must serve Nigeria—not sabotage it.
Dr. Bolaji O. Akinyemi is an Apostle and Nation Builder. He’s also the President of Voice of His Word Ministries and Convener Apostolic Round Table. BoT Chairman, Project Victory Call Initiative, AKA PVC Naija. He is a strategic Communicator and the CEO, Masterbuilder Communications.
Email:[email protected]
Facebook:Bolaji Akinyemi.
X:Bolaji O Akinyemi
Instagram:bolajioakinyem
Aare Adetola Emmanuel King Congratulates Hon. Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji on Election Victory
The Chairman/CEO of Adron Group, Sir Aare Adetola Emmanuel King KOF, has congratulated Hon. Adesola Ayoola-Elegbeji on her resounding victory in the just-concluded by-election for the Remo Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives.
In a goodwill message issued by him, he described the victory as “a historic moment for the Remo people, coming at a time when the constituency yearns for a leader with vision, courage, and genuine commitment to service.”
He noted that the outcome of the election was an attestation to the trust and confidence reposed in Hon. Ayoola-Elegbeji by the people, adding that her sterling qualities, integrity, accessibility, and compassion for the grassroots had endeared her to the electorate.
“The overwhelming support you garnered at the polls is proof that you are the right voice at the right time to carry the aspirations of Remo to the national stage,” he stated.
While acknowledging that the by-election followed the painful demise of the late Hon. Adewunmi Oriyomi Onanuga (Ijaya), Aare Adetola Emmanuel King said Hon. Ayoola-Elegbeji’s emergence symbolizes the continuity of purposeful representation. He expressed confidence that she would not only sustain the legacy of her predecessor but also surpass it with new energy, innovative ideas, and progressive leadership.
The Adron Group Chairman further prayed for divine wisdom, strength, and compassion for the Member-Elect as she assumes office, expressing confidence that her tenure will usher in meaningful development, economic empowerment, and greater opportunities for the people of Remo Federal Constituency.
ADC Condemns Intimidation Campaign Against Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola
The African Democratic Congress (ADC), Ogun State Chapter, strongly condemns the ongoing intimidation and smear campaign targeted at our party leader and Interim National Secretary, *Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola*, by opposition forces in the South West region.
It is unacceptable and undemocratic that as he exercises his constitutional and political right to campaign across the region, elements of the opposition resort to harassment and attacks instead of engaging in issue based politics. Such actions are a direct assault on democracy, free expression, and the spirit of fair political competition.
The ADC calls on security agencies and all relevant authorities to guarantee the safety and freedom of movement for Ogbeni Rauf Aregbesola and all our party leaders nationwide. Democracy thrives on inclusivity, tolerance, and fairness not intimidation.
We urge our members and supporters to remain steadfast and law-abiding, as the ADC will continue to pursue its vision of a just, democratic, and prosperous Nigeria.
*Signed:*
Honourable Muhammed MJG GKAF
*Publicity Secretary, ADC National Media Frontiers, Ogun State*
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