The African Democratic Congress said it’s fielding candidates in the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) in the ongoing local government council election in Lagos State, in compliance with a Supreme Court judgment.

The Lagos State Independent Election Commission (LASIEC) is conducting elections in the 20 LGAs and 37 local council development areas in the state.

Fifteen out of 18 political parties are participating in the ongoing local government election.

A document obtained from LASIEC shows that only 15 of the 19 political parties that initially expressed interest in the elections, submitted candidate lists ahead of the poll.

The Lagos State Chairman of ADC, George Ashiru, explained that the party’s decision to field candidates in the 20 local government council areas was guided by the Supreme Court judgment on local government autonomy delivered in 2024.

He said that that judgment reaffirmed the constitutional recognition of 774 LGAs across Nigeria, including the 20 in Lagos.

Mr Ashiru said, “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.’’

He noted that the ADC remained committed to upholding the rule of law and constitutional provisions in its political activities.

“In the beginning, we were against participation, but our members and aspirants insisted on participating, especially those who felt that they had strength in some areas. The party chose to abide by the constitution and focus our participation on the recognised councils,” he said.

Mr Ashiru urged LASIEC to conduct the election with transparency and impartiality.

“At the end of this election, people will rate the commission because, ideally, parties win in their areas of strength,” he added.

The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) remains the most represented party in the contest, fielding candidates in all 57 local councils and 376 wards.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) followed with candidates contesting in 45 councils and 259 wards.

The Labour Party presented 22 chairmanship and 130 councillorship candidates, while the Zenith Labour Party had six chairmanship and 21 councillorship candidates.

Other political parties with approved candidates, as listed by LASIEC, include Accord; African Action Alliance (AAA); Allied People’s Movement (APM); and the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA). Others were the Social Democratic Party (SDP); National Rescue Movement (NRM); Young Progressives Party (YPP); Youth Party (YP); Action Peoples Party (APP); and the ADC.

(NAN)