A reconciliation meeting called on Monday by the All Progressives Congress, Lagos Chapter, ended in chaos as suspected political hirelings from Lagos Mainland allegedly took over the venue of the stakeholders’ meeting, at the party’s secretariat on Acme Road, Ogba.
The meeting was reportedly called by the Governor’s Advisory Council for 12pm to close cracks caused by the primaries of the party.
Elders and leaders of the party in Lagos State had called for a reconciliation meeting following the bad blood that followed the last APC primaries which threw up Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu and Obafemi Hamzat as governorship and deputy governorship candidate of the party and other candidates.
Sources said the free for all fight was unprecedented even as Hamzat and other party chieftains were allegedly harassed by aggrieved party members.
A source told The Point on Tuesday that senior members of the party were equally molested by the hirelings, and many stopped from accessing the meeting room.
Some of the party leaders were allegedly assaulted, though there was no official confirmation as the party’s spokesperson, Seye Oladejo, did not pick phone calls when efforts were made to contact him.
The suspected political thugs were allegedly from two contending factions of the party from Lagos Mainland, with a retiring member of the House of Representatives (name withheld) said to be the leader of one of the groups.
A party chieftain who confirmed that he was also harassed at the meeting venue said he was stopped from driving his car into the party secretariat and some suspected thugs stopped him from accessing the meeting room.
As the disruption caused by the hirelings frustrated the agenda, Hamzat reportedly had to make an appearance along the line, to calm frayed nerves.
Another prominent party leader, Fouad Oki, also addressed the gathering, according to a credible source.
The meeting was later rescheduled indefinitely.
The leader of the party in Lagos Central senatorial district, Tajudeen Olusi, has also been mandated to intervene in the crisis and resolve the lingering crisis.
It was gathered that Governor Sanwoolu, who was absent at the meeting, will now chair the rescheduled meeting at a later date.
