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Women numbering about 70 yesterday stormed the Lagos State House of Assembly to protest against the list of chairmanship candidates released by the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN).
The women described The Nation newspaper of Monday 26, in which the names of chairmanship and councillorship candidates for the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas as “against the wish of the people.”
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According to a letter signed by Bola Britto, Agege ACN party Women Leader, “the name of Alhaji Jubreel Abdul-Kareem was listed as the chairmanship candidate for Agege Local Government, which we believed is erroneous.
“This is because Mrs. Jumoke Lawal-Omilabu was duly elected chairmanship candidate of the party and subsequently her name was forwarded to the party, which in turn forwarded the name to the state Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
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“It was based on this that she was given LASIEC nomination form for herself as well as forms for the seven councillorship candidates of the party in Agege LGA.
“She has also undergone security screening at the State Security Service (SSS) who invited her based on the fact that her name was sent to the agency by LASIEC. Apart from this, she has filled the form and submitted it alongside with the filled forms of the councillorship candidates.”
They expressed surprise that after having fulfilled all necessary obligations, another name was listed as the candidate of the party for Agege.?
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“We want to ask: was Lawal-Omilabu was cheated because she is a woman?” they asked.?
The women described Lawal-Omilabu as a distinguished member of the party who has never wavered in her progressive ideals. They added that she had contested various elective positions in the ACN.
“Why then will some people deny the joy of victory at this particular point in time? We, the women of Agege want to appeal to our leaders to reverse this injustice done to the womenfolk. We don’t want to be cheated and treated with disdain,” the letter stated.