Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly Mudashiru Obasa has denied claims linking him to protests over the outcome of the All Progressives Congress (APC) primary elections in the state.
Mr Obasa also warned against the use of his name in connection with protests or rallies arising from the primaries.
His reaction followed protests by party members from several local government areas, including Badagry, Mushin, Amuwo-Odofin, Eti-Osa, Somolu, Ajeromi and Oshodi, at the APC secretariat on Acme Road in Ikeja on Tuesday.
The protesters accused party leaders of manipulating the outcome of the primaries and called for transparency in the process.
The demonstrations came after the Lagos APC released a list of candidates said to have emerged from the primary elections.
Following the protests, messages circulated on WhatsApp alleging that Obasa provided N2 billion to organise the demonstrations.
Responding to the claims, the speaker described them as false and said he had no involvement in the protests.
“It is foolhardy, malicious, misleading and baseless for anybody to assume or imply that I will import or mobilise protesters from different local governments to the secretariat. To achieve what exactly?” he said.
Obasa noted that he was not a candidate in the disputed election and questioned why he would sponsor protests.
“I am not a candidate in the disputed election, so why and how will I devote such an amount of money to organising protests?” he added.
The speaker said he remained committed to the unity and progress of the party and urged members not to use his name to create division within the APC.
“I am a peace-loving party man, and I abhor the use of my name and office for any form of illegality or to sow division within the party,” he said.
