Residents of Lagos State, Nigeria’s Business Capital are once again preparing for local government elections.
The elections will hold in July according to the timetable released by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, over the weekend.
Lagosians as they are fondly called expressed mixed reactions when approached by our correspondent on their State of readiness for the elections.
For Hamidu Arije, the election couldn’t come sooner. He wants everyone to participate actively in local governance, noting that it is the closest anyone could get to government.
“This is not the time to sit on the fence, moreso, when the local councils are getting more money from the Federal government, people should show more interest and demand accountability “, he said.
But Lekan Shodunke is not excited about the council polls. He is concerned that even with the proposed autonomy for the local governments, no real change may come and people will have to live through the same old circle once again.
There are twenty local governments and thirty-seven local council development areas in Lagos State and elections will hold in all the local governments and LCDAs.
Protests
Meanwhile, members of the ruling All Progressives Congress in some of the local governments are protesting against alleged imposition of candidates by leaders of the party.
In Ojokoro local council development area and Agege local government, there are growing tensions amongst party members ahead of party primaries which will come up soon.
Quiet Position
Amidst the tension among the ruling party members, opposition parties have remained relatively quiet since the release of the election timetable by the electoral body.
The two major opposition parties in the State, the Peoples Democratic Party and the Labour Party have poor record of performance in council elections in the state.
The PDP in particular may still be in shock following the defection of its Governorship candidate in the last general election to the All Progressives Congress few weeks ago.
Confidence Okwuchi
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