- Wale Raji wins 15 of 18 wards in Epe APC primary with more than 18,000 votes, beating his opponents’ combined total of just less than 12,000.
- The lawmaker extended a hand of friendship to his opponents, urging unity ahead of January 2027 general election.
- Epe’s APC dominance makes him overwhelming favourite to win the general election.
Wale Raji, the Member of House of Representatives for Epe Federal Constituency, Lagos State, is poised to return to the green chamber for a record fourth time after winning a hard-fought All Progressives Congress (APC) primary election on Saturday.
Although the APC is yet to officially declare a winner in the race, the election’s official result collation spreadsheet seen by EKO HOT BLOG on Sunday shows the incumbent winning 15 of 18 wards that held elections in Epe Federal Constituency, indicating his unique strength and grassroots reach in the area at a time when several sitting lawmakers across states, including Lagos, lost their primaries.
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According to the result collation, Raji polled more than 18,000 votes to achieve a landslide victory against his three opponents, who polled less than 12,000 votes.
The lawmaker’s supporters have said this result is a vindication of his representation and evidence of his popularity in Epe Federal Constituency and the influence of the many life-changing initiatives he has undertaken since starting his legislative journey.
Raji, who won an unprecedented third term in the 2023 elections, had faced major headwinds in his bid to return for a fourth term, with his three opponents — Akogun Wale Raji Anomo, Barrister Saidat Olayinka Oladunjoye, Bakare Isiaka Adeyinka (BIA), popularly known as Eruobodo — running on the message that it was time for the incumbent to pass the torch and let Epe North present a candidate for the sake of fairness.
But the lawmaker, who chairs the House Committee on Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), and his allies argued that the constituency stood to gain more from him extending his stay in the House of Representatives as a ranking member, than electing a new lawmaker who would have to start afresh.
Yet, Raji’s challengers forged ahead with their aspiration to unseat him and pick up the APC ticket.
Landslide Victory
Earlier on Saturday, Raji told EKO HOT BLOG that he was confident of coasting home to a landslide victory in the primary election.
“It [the election] was relatively peaceful. Even though in some areas, tensions rose, but I think at the end of the day, it was generally okay… And I am confident that we are coasting home to a landslide victory,” he told our correspondent in an interview in Epe.
By the end of voting in the APC primary election on Saturday, the lawmaker had indeed won a landslide victory.
The scale of the win is notable on several levels. That all three challengers collectively polled less than 12,000 votes against Raji’s 18,470 — in a direct primary where every card-carrying APC member had a vote — underscores the depth of his organisational machinery and the personal loyalty he has built across the constituency’s 19 wards. It is the kind of margin that speaks less to the weakness of his opponents than to the strength of a lawmaker who has spent a decade ensuring that virtually no ward in Epe Federal Constituency has been left without a visible project bearing his name.
That loyalty has been earned methodically.
Over three terms, Raji has constructed over 42 classrooms, built schools in underserved communities including Temu, Ilege, Owu-Ikosi and Oko-Abe, commissioned an 81-computer ICT centre at Ogunmodede College, and delivered over 300 market stalls, solar street lights, and road rehabilitation projects.
A recent ranking by Lagos Reporters placed him second among all Lagos lawmakers in the House, a record his camp campaigned on extensively.
Raji is Heavy Favourite to Win General Election
Raji has expressed gratitude to Epe voters, election officials, and party leaders, while extending an olive branch to his opponents, calling for unity and urging all camps to direct their energy toward the APC’s governorship campaign and President Bola Tinubu’s 2027 re-election bid.
The lawmaker has also promised his constituents more life-changing initiatives if he is re-elected in next year’s election.
The general election, scheduled for January 2027, is expected to be a formality. In the 2023 elections, Raji polled 19,337 votes, barely 867 more than the 18,470 he recorded in Saturday’s primary alone.
That a party primary produced nearly as many votes as a general election speaks to the density of APC membership in Epe Division. His nearest 2023 opponent, the PDP’s Noheem Balogun, managed only 9,039 votes, less than half Raji’s total.
FURTHER READING
Epe is an APC stronghold, and with a unified party behind him, Raji’s path to a historic fourth term looks clear.
Philip Ibitoye is a Special Correspondent with EKO HOT BLOG. Click here to find daily analysis and critical insight on trending issues in Lagos and other parts of Nigeria.
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