Lagos PDP warns Sanwo-Olu against plan to shelve council polls

By SEYI OLAMIDE

Preparation ongoing says LASIEC

Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has cautioned Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu against a plan to shelve the local council elections in the state or adopt any undemocratic means to foist unelected candidates on the councils when the tenure of the incumbents expires.

In a statement, yesterday, its spokesman, Mr. Taofik Gani, said the party would go to any length, including taking necessary legal action, to ensure that the state government conducts council elections.

“Governor Sanwo-Olu should resist any plan to entrench undemocratic rule in the local councils. The move to entrench undemocratic councils will not only fester anarchy at that level but will also be the albatross of the governor if any attempt to seek re-election in 2023,” the statement said.

Meanwhile, Spokesman of the APC, Mr. Seye Oladejo, has said that the PDP’s ranting about the local council elections “shows the idleness and needless rabble-rousing of its confused leadership.”

He said: “The allegation or suspicion to entrench undemocratic governance at the local council level in the state is not in tandem with the fact that the state has always had democratically-elected leaders at the grassroots.”
IN a reaction, Spokesman of Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Mr. Tope Ojo, distanced the commission from the altercations between the two parties.

He said LASIEC was making necessary preparations for the exercise, adding: “When the time comes, the media would be carried along.”

Also, when asked to react to PDP’s allegation, the state’s Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Gbenga Omotoso said: “Please check with LASIEC.” (The Guardian)