Members of the All Progressives Congress, APC, in Abeokuta South Local Government Area of Ogun State, on Monday, staged a peaceful protest over the alleged refusal of party leaders to issue them membership cards despite completing their registration.
The aggrieved party faithful also accused some leaders of the party of plotting to impose candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
According to them, the delay in issuing membership cards was part of efforts to disenfranchise them during the party’s primary elections.
The protesters, who converged on the APC secretariat in Ijaye, Abeokuta, carried placards with inscriptions such as “Give Us Our Membership Cards,” “We Don’t Want Imposition,” and “Let Us Vote for Our Candidates”.
Speaking during the protest, one of the demonstrators, Adesanya Akinbode, demanded immediate access to the membership cards, stressing that members who had remained loyal to the party deserved to participate fully in its internal democratic processes.
Akinbode said, “Give us our membership cards. We want to vote. We have been loyal APC members from the beginning. We are loyal supporters and political children of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu and Governor Dapo Abiodun. Give us our membership cards so that we can have access to vote.”
Another protester, Idowu Rodiat, decried what she described as attempts to force candidates on party members against their wishes, calling for transparency and fairness in the party’s electoral process.
She said, “We don’t want imposition in our local government. We want our primary election, and we really need security in that primary election. We want to vote for our own leader. We don’t want any leader to choose for us.
“We, the members of APC, want to vote for our true leader, our House of Representatives candidate, our Senate candidate, and our House of Assembly candidate by ourselves. We don’t want any leader to impose candidates on us.”
Reacting to the allegations, the APC Publicity Secretary in the state, Nuerudeen Olufemi, denied claims that members were being denied access to their cards.
Olufemi explained that registered members could print their membership cards directly online, adding that ward officials had been assigned to assist members with the process.
The publicity secretary said, “What we expect is for registered members to be able to access and print their membership cards directly. The arrangement is that each ward has a contact person responsible for handling registrations. These individuals were selected from the wards to carry out the registration process.
“Members are encouraged to meet with their ward contact persons, while they can also log into the website and print their membership cards themselves. So, I don’t see how anyone can claim they are being denied access. Nobody is denying anybody.”
He stressed that the issue may have stemmed from inadequate orientation at the ward level, adding that the state has nothing to do with denying anyone access.
“What we need to do is reach out to the ward chairmen to properly orientate them and provide the right information on how members in their wards can print their slips. It is very easy. The state has absolutely nothing to do with denying anyone access, as far as I am concerned,” he added.
2027: APC members protest ‘imposition’, withheld cards in Abeokuta
