Kemi Nelson, Jumoke Okoya In Public Brawl Over APC Posts!

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The old saying, ‘Men can hurt my body, but women can scar my soul,’ is one of those undeniable truths all women experience but most easily deny. However, this is exactly the event now playing out between two Lagos female political amazons, Chief (Mrs.) Kemi Nelson and Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas.

 

The silent acrimony between these two women of importance, a very credible source told Global Excellence magazine, has just blossomed into a full blown public war. Expectedly, both women feigned ignorance of any rift when Global Excellence magazine sought their comments two months ago when the story broke.

The war, the source informed, actually was sparked by the camp of Hon. Okoya-Thomas, and

 

Global Excellence magazine edition that published the exclusive 

 

it got the attention of both the state and federal arms of their political party.

According to Global Excellence magazine source, the relevance of Kemi Nelson, a former commissioner for women affairs during the Asiwaju Tinubu government in Lagos State, was openly called to question  by Okoya-Thomas, a former member of the House of Representatives and younger ally within the same political family when she literally plotted and finally snatched Kemi’s post as women leader of the Lagos State chapter of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

 

It didn’t end there; according to the source, Okoya-Thomas and her camp later threw a party and, like brave soldiers who triumphed in war, they reportedly mocked Kemi’s imagined loss of power. The rather depressing situation, we gathered, drove Kemi to bid for a higher office.

 

While the high-wire scheming lasted, the source regaled Global Excellence magazine, the situation witnessed the camps of both women literally knifing each other at their backs.

 

Meanwhile, during the APC national convention that held on Saturday, June 23, 2018 in Abuja, Kemi Nelson was lucky to have made the Lagos executives’ ‘Unity List’ as Southwest Zone women leader, automatically throwing her up ahead of her former position. The source stated that Kemi Nelson’s new position which normally should douse tension had further fuelled the alleged war.

 

Following her announcement as the Southwest women leader, the source said, Jumoke allegedly wrote a petition to the zonal body ‘to reconsider its decision’. Global Excellence magazine was told that Hon. Jumoke stated ‘reasons why the post should not be awarded Kemi Nelson’.

 

However, the source said that a former senator from Lagos State, Mr. Tokunbo Afikuyomi, waded into the matter for an amicable settlement. According to the source, “Afikuyomi volunteered to settle the rift between them (Kemi and Jumoke) because of her closeness to Jumoke.”

 

The former senator, according to the source, enjoys good relationship with both women but is closer to Hon. Okoya-Thomas, hence his decision to reconcile the women.

Meanwhile, going by the latest fisticuffs which happened at the APC Secretariat on ACME Road, Ikeja on Monday, 27th of August, 2018, gun-wielding hoodlums suspected to be working for Jumoke Okoya-Thomas allegedly launched a vicious commando-style attack on her predecessor, Kemi Nelson.

Though the real cause of the attack is yet to be unravelled as at the time of filing this report, eye witnesses however confirmed that Jumoke Okoya-Thomas who was physically present at the scene was seen giving instructions to the hoodlums during the attack while her P.A., one Biodun also participated actively.

The office of Chief (Mrs) Nelson was totally vandalized with several personal effects and other valuables like mobile phones, Television sets, chairs, tables and computers either destroyed or stolen.

The South West APC Woman Leader, who was apparently the main target of the attack miraculously escaped death as the hoodlums suspected to be members of Lagos-based cult group, Scorpion, fired several gunshots in different directions during the attack.

Nelson’s Chief Security Detail, popularly known as OSLO sustained severe machet cuts injuries while her Personal Assistant Ayo Alli-Balogun and other aides were equally attacked and brutalised. The victims are currently receiving treatments.

While the attack lasted, Okoya-Thomas was seen screaming, moving up and down and calling Mrs Nelson and Asiwaju Bola Ahmed-Tinubu several unprintable names.

Ever since becoming the Lagos Woman Leader by party leaders consensus few months ago Okoya-Thomas has engaged her predecessor in an unwarranted battle of supremacy.

When the problem started, this reporter sent a text message to Hon. Jumoke Okoya-Thomas on her two known mobile phones, Glo and MTN for her comments but she did not reply. Two days after, the reporter called her. When she picked the called and realized it was for the same reason, she promised to call the reporter back saying ‘I’m in a ‘serious meeting’. When the reporter sent a message to Mrs. Kemi Nelson for her comments on the reported feud between her and Okoya-Thomas, she simply texted back ‘I’m not aware’.

 

-Folorunsho Hamsat