By Peter Dansu
A fresh political crisis has erupted within the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in Ojo Local Government Area of Lagos State as aggrieved party members staged a protest against what they described as an attempt to impose incumbent House of Representatives member, Seyi Sowunmi, as the party’s candidate for the 2027 general elections.
The protest, which took place at the Ojo Local Government Secretariat on Thursday, April 2, drew a large crowd of ADC members, including several former Labour Party stakeholders who recently defected to the party.
The protesters openly declared that they would resist any move to hand Sowunmi the ADC ticket ahead of the 2027 House of Representatives election for Ojo Federal Constituency.
Sowunmi, who currently represents Ojo Federal Constituency in the House of Representatives, was elected in 2023 under the Labour Party before later defecting to the ADC.
Leading the protest, former Labour Party chairmanship candidate in Ojo, Abudu Akinlola Olumayowa, said members who moved from the Labour Party to ADC in December 2025 did so with the hope of building a stronger and more democratic platform.
According to him, the group rejected what it described as the “brazen impunity” of imposing Sowunmi on party members.
“We moved to ADC as a block on December 13, 2025. At the time, everybody knew that the Labour Party had won the House of Representatives seat in Ojo. Later, Seyi Sowunmi was expelled from the Labour Party and moved into ADC,” Olumayowa said.
“He has been displaying financial strength and allegedly trying to buy his way into the party, making the people lose their voice. We have come together to speak with one voice that whatever the party is doing with him is an aberration.
“I have chosen the people over politics. I have chosen justice over personal interest. If ADC wants to win in Ojo, then it must go with the people, and the people are saying they reject Seyi Sowunmi today, tomorrow and forever.”
Another party stakeholder, Comrade Olukoya Olusegun Olayinka, accused the lawmaker of abandoning the people after benefiting from their support during the 2023 elections.
Olayinka, who also defected from the Labour Party to ADC, alleged that Sowunmi had spent the last three years intimidating party loyalists instead of delivering meaningful development to the constituency.
“This man has been harassing us for the past three years. He is not from Ojo. He came from Ifako-Ijaiye and was imposed on us during the Labour Party days,” he said.
“We told him that he was the face of Peter Obi in Ojo and that if he failed to deliver, then both he and the movement would fail in Ojo. Instead of listening, he turned against those who supported him.
“Now that we are in ADC, we are saying clearly that the people of Ojo must be allowed to choose who they want. We will not accept another imposition.”
The ADC women leader in Ojo, Comrade Ukaria Igwe, also joined the protest, insisting that women in the party no longer wanted Sowunmi to represent the constituency.
“We are not comfortable with Seyi Sowunmi. He is not from Ojo and over the last three years, nothing has been done in the constituency,” she said.
“There are no constituency projects to point to. The people are tired and they are saying enough is enough.”
Also speaking at the protest, former Deputy Chairman of the Labour Party in Lagos State, Pastor Yemi Ayeni, said Ojo residents had supported Sowunmi in 2023 because they wanted change after years of dissatisfaction with the political establishment in the area.
Ayeni said many people now felt betrayed by the lawmaker’s performance.
“We worked, voted and won because we believed things would be different. The people of Ojo gave him everything he has today,” he said.
“But for three years, there has been nothing to show. No constituency projects, no visible development, only promises and disappointment.
“Now he wants to return in 2027, but the people are gathered here to say they do not want him again.”
The protest is expected to deepen the internal crisis within ADC in Ojo as the party begins early preparations for the 2027 elections.
As of the time of filing this report, neither Seyi Sowunmi nor the leadership of the ADC in Lagos State had officially responded to the allegations raised by the protesters.
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