Our Plans For Ndigbo, Others In Lagos APC -- Segun Idris

Hon. Olusegun Abubakar Idris is a chieftain of the All Progressives
Congress, APC and the administrative secretary of the party in the
Lagos West Senatorial District.

In an interview with Vanguard, he spoke on issues arising from the
recent elections in the state and the party's plans to sustain its
dominance.

Read his answers to some of the interview questions in the following excerpts:

In your local government, Amuwo-Odofin LGA, your party APC lost both
the House of Representatives and the state House of Assembly seat.
Also this is the first time a non indigine will be representing the
area. What will you say was responsible for the party's loss in the
area?

There were too many factors responsible for that loss. One of the
factors responsible was the concentration of the people from
South-East and South-South, these people voted for PDP due to their
staunch support for President Goodluck Jonathan which automatically
made them to vote for PDP from beginning till the end. Therefore, they
did not really think of voting elsewhere or another party, they went
on to vote for the PDP because they felt 'our brother is the one going
for the Presidency.'

You have enumerated several factors that made your party APC lose
touch in Amuwo-Odofin. What is your party doing to ensure some of
those problems are addressed before the Local Government elections
will take place?

I know we are going to have local government elections very soon and
before then, we will be having town hall meetings with everybody
including our people from the South-south and South-East to let them
know the reason why they should vote for us. We are also going to also
look into a situation whereby we can bring about a popular candidate
that will represent the party. I know that Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu
in his wisdom has always been there to ensure that electoral process
within the party and in the general elections are done without any
form of bias. The internal mechanism of the party must be able to
produce a candidate that will be readily available and that will be
acceptable to the electorate of Amuwo-Odofin.

We are planning to have one on one discussions with everybody in this
local government including the Igbos, they have always been here with
us and they are doing very well with us. We are actually going to talk
to them and am sure they will further tell us what their grievances,
their mind and interest are. The Igbo's have always been here and they
do have positions at the local government level here, even the Hausas
and the South-South people, they have always been here with us in
Amuwo-Odofin.