Lagos Majority Leader, Noheem Babatunde Adams Alleges Plot to Deny Him APC Ticket, Accuses Oba Saheed Elegushi
By Trek Africa Newspaper
The Majority Leader of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Noheem Babatunde Adams, has alleged that the Elegushi of Ikateland, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, is working with some individuals to deny him victory in the recently concluded Lagos APC House of Assembly primaries.
In an exclusive interview with us, Adams said he scored 7,635 votes while his only opponent, Bankole Saheed, polled 1,225 votes in the direct primary election. However, he claimed information reaching him indicated that his name had been replaced with that of his opponent.
According to him, “When I called the Returning Officer, Gbenga Odofin, he told me he had submitted my name as the winner, but there are some forces trying to manipulate the results. He mentioned some names, and Oba Elegushi was one of them. He said they claimed that I did not support them during the impeachment move against the Speaker, Mudashiru Obasa.”
Adams argued that he clearly won the election and noted that journalists monitored and recorded the process.
Responding to the allegation, Oba Elegushi denied any involvement in the election process. In a press statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Affairs, Temitope Oyefeso, the monarch described the allegation as baseless.
“The attention of the palace of His Majesty, Oba Saheed Ademola Elegushi, has been drawn to a media campaign orchestrated to blackmail the traditional ruler over the failure of some politicians to secure the ticket of their party to contest in the next general elections.
“Ordinarily, we would not have dignified this with a response, but it is appropriate to reiterate the apolitical stance of the palace and the throne, and to reject in its entirety this cheap blackmail by politicians who were rejected by their own party,” the statement read.
Hon. Noheem Babatunde Adams has been a member of the Lagos State House of Assembly since October 16, 2017, when he emerged victorious in the by-election conducted to replace the late Hon. Ademola Kazeem Alimi, who died on July 18, 2017.
Currently serving his third term, Adams is seeking a fourth term in office and is also believed to be eyeing the speakership of the 11th Lagos State House of Assembly.
