A chieftain of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos, Chief Wale Mogaji, is a former chairman of the Lagos House of Assembly Service Commission. In this interview with OLAOLU OLADIPO he spoke on sundry issues relating to the prospect of the party at the national and local levels with a verdict that the party remains firmly on ground. Excerpts:

As a politician of several years standing, and somebody who has been involved in democratic practice for over two decades. What are your expectations for the year in terms of what the political scenario will look like?

Hopefully, we are experiencing a credible election and I hope that the Senate Committee on Electoral Matters will also do their own part and effect the necessary amendment to the electoral guidelines to be used for conducting elections next year.

I recollect vividly that because of the closeness (of the last elections) and the time it was presented to the executive, the executive could not assent to the submitted copy or the draft copy to be passed into law.

So in a way, we couldn’t get the perfect and corrected version of the electoral guidelines. We should take care of some of the inadequacies observed in the previous election. So, apart from that, definitely any election will be competitive but as of now, we are not doing anything. So until the INEC announces a timetable, we cannot do anything like that.

You talked about competitiveness; the APC seems to be the dominant party. If you had to look at the number of elected public officials in the party, in the state and at the national level, it seems we are almost heading towards a one-party state. Within this context, what do you mean by competitiveness when it is almost like the opposition has been decimated?

I think what is important is for the parties themselves to put their house in order because the more they don’t put their house in order, you continue to see some of these defections owing to lack of internal democracy which is affecting virtually all the parties.

More importantly, even the parties in the opposition are not playing their role well because when their house is put in order, if that’s done, the opposition can then confront the government face-to-face and do a lot of propaganda against them. So, what is happening? It is not enough.

That is why I believe that the parties are not helping Nigeria at all because there is no discipline within their ranks. This is a party where you see some of the members putting their legs somewhere and at the same time, they are assisting the members of the other party to win elections. So how will that work? It cannot work.

If you don’t put your house in order, an outsider will not do that for you. The situation is such that I have a competitive advantage over you, I will use it. Whether we like it or not, today APC is a very strong party. I don’t see any of these parties defeating them.

Not even the coalition ADC? Are you writing them off?

I am saying so because what is the coalition that is being talked about when APC members are coming together with more members from the opposition swelling its ranks? More PDP governors are defecting to the APC on a daily basis and they are coming with their supporters.

Whether we like it or not, they made a substantial impact in the last election. So, as a party, everybody wants to have a comparative advantage over the other, whether I am weakening the opposition or not if need be.

So, it is for you to make sure you hold your ground tight, very well, and ensure you don’t lose out on national level. So, today, all the other parties have a lot of work to do. While they are making noise, the APC is making progress with the ongoing e-registration of members across the country.

You are ruling out the ADC not minding the fact that the party has the likes of former Vice President Atiku Abubakar, Nasir el-Rufai, Chibuke Amaechi and Peter Obi as members. Don’t you think these people coming together will pose a threat to APC?

It’s not enough to throw names around but the question that must be asked is what is the structure of the party in terms of membership, in terms of ability to win elections? I don’t think that they have the right mass and structure to defeat the APC.

One might be tempted to say that the way they are going about it might indicate that they have prospects but they haven’t got enough strength for now to defeat the APC, but you know, politics is so dynamic.

The environment is there for them to operate but looking at the APC in terms of structure and organisation, they have left other parties behind in so many areas. They will need to work hard to meet the standard that has been set by the APC.

Looking at the performance of President Bola Tinubu and the state of the country, do you think, with the way things are, he is poised for re-election?

(Cuts in) If we do election tomorrow, President Bola Tinubu will win. They (ADC) are no match for the APC and President Tinubu because he is light years ahead of them but that doesn’t mean you are going to rest and think that the APC doesn’t have opposition but they are not in a position to confront the machinery of APC because as a party we have worked so hard.

If the election starts now, as soon as it starts, you will see a lot of things because the man is proactive, and also, as a socialist, he would have done his homework properly before the election. So, it (the election) is going to be very interesting.

In terms of performance, do you think he has done well to justify the votes of Nigerians?

If you look at where we are coming from, compared to the last administration, I think we have made substantial impact but the only challenge so far is how the government can make the gains achieved reflect on the lives of the people because the average man is struggling and that is exactly what is happening.

The government is trying; they are trying to reduce the cost of inflation and so on. They have their good side, and they have done enough. A lot of professional work is going on.

They have also been embarking on many projects. The forthcoming election will be competitive, and you cannot undermine anybody. But, the parties will be more focused, and they will need to strengthen themselves. If you want to give a strong opposition, you will need to work hard.

You are a chieftain of the party in Lagos State. What do you see happening in Lagos in 2026, as we move into elections?

So far, so good for us things have been moving fine because of continuity. For the APC, we are entrenched though there are areas for improvements, and there are many antagonists also. Also, you have to look at it in a good way. It takes time for someone to come around and cause some political upset.

Are you now saying that the APC is deeply entrenched in the state for any party to upstage it?

I left the PDP 15 years ago, precisely in 2010. I left PDP to ACN and now APC. When you look at the way the party is going in the state, it will take time for the opposition to really win the state from APC.

For instance, they (APC) are organising their e-registration, inviting new members to join them, and they are doing it in a competitive manner, which no opposition party is doing as we speak.

Your party lost the presidential election in the last election due to the manner in which many of your members were aggrieved. Do you think the party has done enough to make sure that people who are aggrieved are brought on board?

The party has learnt its lesson from that lapse and it has been doing a lot of things to rectify the problems within, and I think that what has been done so far will have positive effects on the outcome of the forthcoming election.

One issue that has dominated discourse in Lagos politics is zoning. The governor is about to finish his term, I mean Babajide Sanwo-Olu who is from Lagos Central. Where do you think the next governor should come from?

Geometrically, for political balancing, Lagos Central has been there for 20 years. Ideally, it was to be Lagos East, unfortunately they lost out, but if we are looking at equity and fairness, then we can assume that Lagos East has come to stay and should be allowed to produce the next governor of the state.

Have you seen anybody from those two areas who you believe is well-positioned to fly the flag?

There are many potentials and materials all across the state. But, whether they are going to get the flag and get the go ahead to contest is what I don’t know.

There are many of them who have come out in the open and there are some others who are still observing the situation and watching events unfold.