The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has announced that it will field candidates in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) during Saturday’s local government council elections in Lagos State, in line with a Supreme Court judgment.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is organising elections across the state’s 20 LGAs and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
NAN further reports that out of 18 political parties in the state, 15 are participating in the ongoing polls.
Documents obtained from LASIEC revealed that only 15 of the 19 parties that initially indicated interest submitted candidate lists ahead of the election.
Speaking on the development, the Lagos State Chairman of ADC, Mr George Ashiru, stated that the party’s decision was guided by the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy delivered in 2024.
He explained that the judgment reaffirmed the constitutional recognition of 774 LGAs nationwide, including the 20 in Lagos State.
“In line with the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy, we chose to focus our campaigns and field candidates only in the 20 constitutionally recognised local government areas,” Ashiru said.
He added that the ADC remains committed to upholding constitutional provisions and the rule of law in its political activities.
“At first, we were reluctant to participate, but our members and aspirants insisted, particularly those confident of their strength in specific areas.
“The party chose to abide by the constitution and focus its participation on the recognised councils,” he said.
Ashiru urged LASIEC to conduct the election transparently and impartially.
“At the end of this election, people will assess the commission’s credibility because, ideally, parties win in their areas of strength,” he added.
NAN reports that the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has the highest representation in the election, fielding candidates in all 57 local councils and 376 wards.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) follows with candidates contesting in 45 councils and 259 wards.
The Labour Party has presented 22 chairmanship and 130 councillorship candidates, while the Zenith Labour Party is fielding six chairmanship and 21 councillorship candidates.
Other parties with approved candidates, as listed by LASIEC, include Accord, African Action Alliance (AAA), Allied People’s Movement (APM), All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), National Rescue Movement (NRM), Young Progressives Party (YPP), Youth Party (YP), Action Peoples Party (APP), and the ADC. (NAN)
