…calls for review

By Nnamdi Ojiego

Lagos4Lagos Movement, a political group in the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, in Lagos State, has picked holes in the guidelines released by the party for its members seeking to contest the forthcoming Local Government Area, LGA, election in the state.

The group also condemned what it called “awkward” screening requirements which the aspirants must meet. This, the group stated, would deny some interested members fair and level playing ground.

The party, had earlier in the week, released guidelines for its members seeking to contest and participate in the upcoming Local Government election scheduled to hold on July 24 in the state.

According to the guidelines, “the nomination form for the position of council chairman now stands at N2 million, a sharp increment from N550,000, plus N50,000 administrative fee for a male aspirant while female aspirants get 50% off exclusive of the administrative fee. Also, a male councillorship hopeful must pay N500,000 while females get 50% off for the nomination forms alongside the N50,000 administrative fee.

Addressing journalists at the organization’s headquarters, in Ikeja, the Principal Coordinator, Lagos4Lagos Movement, Hon. Olabode Makinde, said the new guidelines would disenfranchise majority of interested aspirants from contesting in the election and appealed the leadership of the party to review the guidelines.

Makinde said, “Section 221 of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria and the amended 2010 Electoral Act clearly stipulate that the process to get political power, through legitimate and democratic means, must be done fairly and justifiably. It is only proper therefore, for the process to be executed in an impartial way that will bring out the best among our aspirants.

“It is disturbing that the current position of the party, especially regarding fees for the nomination forms as well as screening procedure appear to be a deliberate move to disenfranchise majority of the interested candidates in favor of the incumbents and the ‘anointed’.

“With our minimum wage standing at N30,000 per month, coupled with a harsh economy that got worsened by the pandemic, this move is clearly insensitive and definitely not in the interest of the ordinary Lagosian with inalienable rights to seek and contest the elective positions.

“Again, the party’s imposition of a particularly awkward screening exercise that the aspirants are now subjected to, begs the big question of veiled intentions. The inclusion of candidates’ contributions to the party, experience in public service, amongst others, are new and very subjective. Ideally, the only requirements should be as provided by our nation’s constitution”,

Speaking further, the principal coordinator explained that the ideology of Lagos4Lagos Movement was hinged on returning power to choose back to the people and called on the leaders to make the process credible by reviewing the lopsidedness of the guidelines and make it fair and accessible to all.

According to him, “Over the years, our local government elections have been ingloriously branded as an exclusive preserve of the state where popular candidates win elections and are blatantly denied to favour the state’s handpicked preferences. The new guidelines appear to strongly support this thinking as most popular candidates will be inevitably shut out especially as the fees and screening exercise have somewhat become a tool to stifle the possible advancement of a great number of candidates to the next stage.

“It is therefore, vital at this point, to be reminded that the local government administration system remains the closest to the people and raising the cost of entry to this current level, automatically denies a lot of people at the grassroot their legitimate ambitions to run for office. As far as elections are concerned, we believe the playing field should be made level and fair to ensure that if you are popular in your locality, you will emerge as their representative since democracy is a game of numbers”, Makinde maintained.