On Tuesday, Femi Badia, chairman of the Labour Party in Apapa Local Government of Lagos State, led some party members across Lagos Central to the ruling All Progressives Congress.
Mr Badia declared for the ruling party at the Lagos Central Senatorial District APC mega rally at the Mobolaji Johnson Arena, Onikan, Lagos.
He explained that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s performance and the need to support him and President Bola Tinubu in 2027 motivated the decision.
Mr. Badia noted that he and his supporters defected to the APC to collaborate and secure the ruling party’s win in Saturday’s council polls in the senatorial district.
“We are starting ‘Operation Go to Your Polling Units and Deliver for APC’ from now. I can also assure you that in the 2027 general elections, our president will emerge victorious,” he said.
Mr Badia thanked party leaders for accepting the group, and said the defectors were from four local governments in the district.
The Lagos State APC Chairman, Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi, who received the defectors, commended the chairman of the Local Government Campaign Council, Babatunde Balogun, for facilitating the defection of the LP members.
Urging the defectors to work hard within the party, Mr Ojelabi said the rewards would be based on hard work and the value added by the former LP members.
“I promise you that our candidates will not disappoint you. They are going there to complement Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu. The opposition is in disarray,” Mr Ojelabi said.
The chairman, who expressed confidence in APC winning all 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs), described the mega campaign as the wrap-up ahead of Saturday’s polls.
He urged party members and leaders to reach out to non-Yoruba-speaking residents in the state to cast their votes for the party in appreciation of the good governance delivered by the APC.
In his address, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State, represented by Deputy Governor Obafemi Hamzat, told the party faithful to arm themselves with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
“We must not put our president to shame on Saturday. Tinubu is a promise made, and promise kept. We have done a lot for the state. So, we have a party all of us can be proud of and sell to the electorate,” he said.
Prince Tajudeen Olusi, Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council, called upon all ethnic groups in the state to support the APC, emphasizing that this support would be beneficial to the people of the state.
Also speaking, the deputy speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mojisola Meranda, urged the electorate to cast their votes for the APC candidates.
