Ahead of the 2027 election, Primate Elijah Ayodele, founder of the INRI Evangelical Spiritual Church, Lagos, has warned that the All Progressive Congress (APC) would lose Lagos state if any candidate is imposed on the party.

In a statement on Tuesday, July 13, issued by his media aide, Osho Oluwatosin, obtained by Legit.ng, the outspoken cleric stated that 2027 would not be an easy task for the ruling party in Lagos, as people would stand against the probable rigging of the election.

Primate Ayodele warns APC about Lagos state

He advised the party to make the ticket open for everyone and allow the best candidate to win in order to retain the state.

Failure to do so, he said, would make it difficult for the party to win the governorship election in Lagos state, commenting:

“With a wrong candidate, Lagos will be on fire in 2027, as there will be no amount of rigging that will make the candidate win.

"[The] APC should know what to do and let everyone go into the field to play, to enable the best person to emerge. They need the best hand to retain Lagos in 2027.”

“For APC to have continuity, they will do a lot of work, the party will sweat to win, and with a free and fair election, it will be difficult to retain Lagos in 2027 by the APC.”

Furthermore, Primate Ayodele described the best candidate as an individual who is a grassroots politician and not just a technocrat, adding that the candidate must be known far and wide by the populace, not just within the party.

“They must get a candidate people love, a grassroots candidate and not just a technocrat, a core politician who is known widely should be allowed to be the party’s candidate, otherwise it will be very difficult to retain Lagos state.

“If they allow imposition of a candidate, the party will lose the state. They need a grassroots candidate, someone who has experience and capacity, someone everyone admires, to win Lagos state in APC.”