Barrister Azeez Oladapo Yusuf, popularly known as Ninolowo, has emerged as the Allied Peoples Movement (APM) candidate for Agege Constituency II ahead of the 2027 Lagos State House of Assembly election, opening a new chapter in one of the constituency’s most closely watched political contests.
Ninolowo’s emergence follows his departure from the All Progressives Congress (APC), where he had participated in the party’s House of Assembly primary earlier in 2026. His move to the APM comes months after a dispute over the APC’s final candidate list sparked protests by supporters in Agege.
The controversy began after the APC primary held in May 2026, when reports announced Ninolowo as the winner of the Agege Constituency II contest with 12,455 votes. The declaration was widely viewed by his supporters as confirmation that he would fly the party’s flag in the 2027 election.
However, the political atmosphere changed when the APC released its final list of candidates. Supporters of Ninolowo staged protests at the party’s Lagos secretariat, insisting that the outcome of the primary should be respected and describing his exclusion as unjust.
The disagreement ultimately resulted in Ninolowo’s exit from the APC. He later participated in the APM’s substitution primary, where he secured the party’s ticket for Agege Constituency II.
Ninolowo and another former APC aspirant, Ganiyu Kola Egunjobi, who also joined the APM, have publicly denied claims that their decision was influenced by Lagos State House of Assembly Speaker Mudashiru Obasa. They maintained that the move was independently taken after unsuccessful efforts to resolve their grievances within the APC.
A lawyer, businessman and philanthropist, Ninolowo has built much of his public profile around grassroots engagement in Agege. His community interventions have included scholarships, medical outreach programmes and support for indigent residents, activities that featured prominently during the build-up to his declaration to contest the assembly seat.
When he announced his ambition earlier in 2026, Ninolowo described his aspiration as a commitment to public service, promising to pursue legislation that would promote community development while expanding his humanitarian initiatives.
His emergence on the APM platform has now reshaped the political contest in Agege Constituency II, where the ruling APC is expected to field its own candidate, Enimakure Akindele Sakiru, in the 2027 election.
As campaigning gathers momentum, political observers say the contest is likely to focus on issues including infrastructure, education, healthcare, youth employment, environmental sanitation and effective constituency representation, alongside the political circumstances that led to Ninolowo’s switch of party.
With the APM ticket secured, Ninolowo now heads into the 2027 race seeking to convert years of grassroots visibility into electoral support, while voters in Agege Constituency II prepare to choose among competing visions for legislative representation.
AbdulBasit Saba is a journalist and contributor to Freelanews.com, covering news, business, and public affairs.
