The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) on September 23 expelled Chief Ganiyu Kolawole Egunjobi, immediate past chairman of Agege Local Government, and Azeez Yusuf (popularly known as Ninolowo). The move goes beyond routine discipline. It strikes at the heart of Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa’s long-standing political structure in Agege and underscores the fierce contest for APC tickets ahead of the 2027 general elections.
Egunjobi and Yusuf are longtime allies of Obasa. Both men contested the APC primaries for Agege Constituencies I and II respectively. At a stakeholders’ meeting in May where Obasa announced his intention to seek the Agege Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives, the Speaker openly endorsed the duo as his preferred candidates for the state Assembly.
The two politicians insist they won the primaries at venues monitored by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the Department of State Services (DSS). The party leadership, however, declared Gbenga Abiola (Egunjobi’s former vice-chairman) and Sakiru Enimakure the winners.
Dissatisfied with the outcome, Egunjobi and Yusuf left the APC. On September 18 they secured the tickets of the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) for the same constituencies. In response, Lagos APC Chairman Cornelius Ojelabi announced their expulsion for anti-party activities and disloyalty, citing Article 9(5)(II) of the APC Constitution (as amended in 2022). The party dismissed their resignation as a “belated and face-saving attempt to pre-empt consequences.”
The expelled politicians counter that they resigned in July—weeks before the expulsion—and question how a party can expel non-members. Political observers note that if the duo had genuinely left earlier, records of suspension would exist and they would not have continued meeting with APC members as alleged.
Agege has been Obasa’s unchallenged political base for nearly two decades. He has historically determined council chairmanships, party executives and Assembly candidates. The May consensus meeting at which he anointed Egunjobi and Yusuf exemplified his style of consolidating control before seeking higher office.
By awarding the tickets to Abiola and Enimakure, the state party rejected Obasa’s preferred succession plan and demonstrated that his influence no longer guarantees automatic control of tickets. Although Egunjobi and Yusuf have publicly distanced Obasa from their defection, describing it as a personal decision, political watchers maintain that Egunjobi remains closely identified with the Speaker in Agege politics. Observers argue it is unlikely the Speaker was unaware of their plans.
Obasa’s bid for the House of Representatives is widely seen as strategic. After more than eight years as Speaker—including a brief removal and reinstatement in early 2025—the federal seat offers a pathway to national relevance and possible higher ambitions. His bargaining power, however, rests heavily on his ability to deliver Agege.
Should his former loyalists contest on the APM platform, they risk splitting APC votes in Agege I and II. Even an APC victory could be narrow enough to be interpreted as evidence that Obasa’s grip is weakening. The expulsion also serves as a broader warning: no leader, however influential, can treat party membership as temporary attire to be discarded after an unsuccessful primary.
Obasa now faces a delicate dilemma. Campaigning for his allies would expose him to charges of anti-party activity by proxy; abandoning them could alienate his core base and raise questions about his capacity to protect loyalists. His federal ambition remains viable, backed by name recognition and residual structure. Yet the Agege Assembly ticket battle has effectively become a referendum on his influence.
If Abiola and Enimakure prevail in 2027, it would signal that the Lagos APC has successfully installed alternative leadership in Agege independent of Obasa. Should Egunjobi and Yusuf stage an upset on the APM platform, it would mark the first time Obasa has scored a victory against the APC machinery from outside the party—a development that would fundamentally alter his relationship with the ruling party.