Badagry Today Editorial In the ever-turbulent waters of Nigerian politics, clarity is often drowned in contradictions. One such contradicti...
Badagry Today Editorial
In the ever-turbulent waters of Nigerian politics, clarity is often drowned in contradictions. One such contradiction has now surfaced in Badagry, raising serious questions about principle, consistency, and the political credibility of those who seek to lead. At the center of this storm is the Peoples Democratic Party’s (PDP) chairmanship candidate for Badagry Local Government, Barrister Medemaku Abayomi Noah.
Medemaku, a lawyer by profession and the PDP’s anointed candidate for the July local government elections, has filed a suit at the Lagos High Court in Badagry. His legal challenge contests the legitimacy of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to conduct elections in the 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs), including Olorunda LCDA—a critical component of the greater Badagry jurisdiction.
But herein lies the puzzle: how does one simultaneously challenge the legality of an entity while actively participating in its operations?
While Medemaku questions the legitimacy of the LCDAs in court, his own party, the PDP, has fielded candidates across most of these supposedly "illegal" LCDAs, including Olorunda LCDA in Badagry. Only Badagry West LCDA, as it stands, is without a PDP candidate—not because of a legal stance, but because every individual approached turned down the party’s nomination, even after the forms were made free. This isn’t a boycott; it’s a rejection.
Even more perplexing is the PDP’s apparent recognition of these LCDAs through its internal processes. The party selected Dr. Olubobola Moses Ajayi as its chairmanship candidate for Olorunda LCDA—a subdivision of what Medemaku calls the “constitutionally recognized Badagry Local Government.” So how does one justify a legal argument that denies the legality of Olorunda LCDA while endorsing and sponsoring a candidate to contest there?
Let’s follow the logic Medemaku himself is asking the courts to embrace. If the LCDAs are indeed illegal and therefore outside LASIEC’s jurisdiction, then any process conducted within them—whether by APC, PDP, or any party—should be invalid. Yet Medemaku, who claims to have emerged through a "consensus" in Badagry LG, belongs to the same party that held a similar selection process in Olorunda LCDA. This clearly signals a tacit recognition of Olorunda LCDA as a legitimate political entity.
To make matters more contradictory, Medemaku argues that Babatunde Hunpe, the APC chairmanship candidate, did not emerge from a proper primary within the "11 wards" of the constitutionally recognized Badagry Local Government. And yet, by promoting his own emergence and that of Dr. Ajayi through consensus across these same structures, Medemaku validates the electoral boundaries and divisions he seeks to dismiss.
So what really is at play here? Principle or politics?
From all indications, Medemaku’s legal challenge appears less rooted in legal purity and more in political calculation. It is one thing to stand on legal grounds and challenge a system from the outside. It is another to partake fully in that same system while seeking its invalidation. Such contradictions don’t just weaken the integrity of a legal argument—they puncture the moral credibility of a candidacy.
One must ask: is Medemaku’s court action a genuine constitutional pursuit, or a strategic gamble to undermine opponents while hedging his own political bets? And if the LCDAs are indeed illegal, why is his party so comfortable contesting and campaigning within them?
These are not rhetorical questions. They demand clear, consistent answers—not just from Medemaku, but from the Lagos State PDP leadership that approved these dual-track nominations.
The people of Badagry, both in the central LG and its LCDAs, deserve leaders who do not say one thing in court and another on the campaign trail. Legal battles should not be smokescreens for political doublespeak. The grassroots, long weary of such inconsistencies, are watching—and so are we.
In politics, credibility matters. In law, consistency is key. In leadership, you cannot have both ways.
Medemaku, the lawyer-politician, may soon have to choose which path he truly walks.
— Badagry Today Editorial Board
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