Lagos council poll: AD expresses confidence, elects candidates

The Alliance for Democracy (AD) on Saturday said it was confident of a good showing in the July 22 council poll in Lagos.

The state chairman of the party, Mr Kola Ajayi disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

He said that the party was stepping up preparations for the election and it was sure of causing upsets in some area councils.

Ajayi described the AD as a popular party in the state, saying the party was strong and loved by Lagos people.

“You see what some people don’t know is that our party is a strong party, and because they don’t know they tend to underrate us.

“We will use the forthcoming council elections in the state to prove a point that we are not pushovers, we are a big project and we are contesting to win.

“We are strong in almost all parts of the state and we will cause upsets and win some areas because we are a loved party,” he said.

Ajayi said that the party conducted its primaries on Friday in which the candidates for both councillorship and chairmanship seats emerged.

He said over 500 members participated in the primaries, adding it was monitored by officials of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).

“We had our primaries yesterday (Friday) and we thank God it was a peaceful, free and fair exercise.

“The candidates for the elections were mainly picked by consensus at the primaries, and it was true democracy on display,” he said.

He listed some of the chairmanship candidates as Mr Adekunle Ogunsanya (Ayobo/Ipaja), Mr Adegboyega Adeniyi (Agbado/Oke Odo), Mr Babatunde Fijabi (Ikotun/Igando) and Akinola Olusegun (Egbe/Idimu).

He said that others are Ibrahim Shittu (Eredo) and Adekunle Babatunde (Ikeja).

Ajayi congratulated the candidates and urged them to begin to canvass votes for the success of the party at the polls.

He urged party members to desist from violence before and during the election.

“We hear of cases people putting their posters on the posters of our party, and we condemn this.

“However, I appeal to our members and supporters not to challenge this with violence. You should report your grievances to the police as they know what to do,” he said.

Ajayi said the party had received assurances from LASIEC for a free and fair poll and urged the electoral body to live up to the pledge.

NAN reports that LASIEC has fixed July 22 for the poll and July 29 for run-off.