Get Guardian on Google• Sanwo-Olu, Ojelabi, Olusi warn against re-electing underperformed candidates
• YP accuses LASIEC of compromise, delegitimising electoral process
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu; State Chairman of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cornelius Ojelabi, and Chairman, Governance Advisory Council (GAC), Oluyole Olusi, have urged the party’s candidates for the 2025 local council elections to be people-oriented and progressive like the sage, Obafemi Awolowo, if elected into office on July 12.
They stated this yesterday during the party’s official presentation of candidates for the council elections and flag off of the campaign, held at the party’s secretariat in Lagos.
Ojelabi, specifically, stated that a second term in office is not certain for any under-performed council chairman, while stressing the importance of the office to the people.
According to him, the candidate’s administration would be closely monitored by the party when elected into office, saying it wouldn’t be business as usual.
He, however, warned the candidates not to maltreat their deputies when they get into office, saying that they were not spare tyres but co-pilots.
Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Abimbola Salu-Hundeyin, stated that the event symbolises the beginning of the journey that requires hard work, commitment and unalloyed dedication to service.
Olusi advised the candidates to promote people’s welfare rather than personal aggrandisement, saying that the office is not meant to enrich themselves.
Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, however, urged aggrieved aspirants not to work against the party.
MEANWHILE, the Youth Party’s (YP) candidate for Eti Osa Local Council, Ayodele Adio, has raised alarm over what he describes as “deliberate manipulation” of the electoral process by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LAISEC).
In a statement yesterday, Adio accused LAISEC of compromising the integrity of the election by releasing a misleading polling guide barely three weeks before the election, which restricts the party’s preparedness, and delegitimises the entire process.
“A polling guide is not an afterthought. It is a fundamental part of election guidelines and should have been released even before the announcement of election dates. What LAISEC has done is not just negligent—it’s an orchestrated attempt to derail free and fair elections,” Adio stated.
According to him, political parties have just about a week to submit names of party agents, which is unrealistic given the sudden changes in the number of polling units.
