By Emma Aziken & Dapo Akinrefon

LAGOS—The Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, in Lagos State has accused the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC in the state of being jittery and masterminding the deferment of the scheduled local government elections.

This is even as the seeming decision of the APC in the State to present an all male ticket in the gubernatorial election is ruffling feathers among women stakeholders in the party.

Reacting to news of the indefinite postponement of the election, the PDP vowed to seek legal option to compel the APC government to conduct the election as it claimed that the ruling party was running from its own shadows.

The assertions by the PDP was immediately rebuffed by the APC which said it was fully behind the move by the Lagos State House of Assembly on the deferment of the election.

Rejecting the development yesterday, the PDP through its chairman, Captain Tunji Shelle (rtd), said:“We know the kind of government they run in Lagos State. It is a government of deceit. The local government elections have a timetable.

We all know that the local governments in Lagos State are not functional. When we ran election against them, they denied us victory where we won. Now that they are not holding it, it means the APC is jittery.

They know we are going to win. I hope they will see reason to hold the elections but if they fail to conduct the council polls, we may take them to court. This is a constitutional matter. If they fail to hold the elections at the appropriate time, we will take them to court.”

Reacting, the APC through its spokesman, Mr Joe Igbokwe told Vanguard that “the party will speak in the fullness of time and it may not be different from the position of the House, all things being equal.”

Allegation of APC’s decision on all-male ticket

The decision which was apparently framed to soothe religious feelings among the two dominant religions in the state, Vanguard learnt, is, however, stirring insinuations of sexism among the normally vociferous female flank in the ruling party in the state.

Whereas the two governors to have emerged since the advent of the Fourth Republic have been males, the female gender had a dominance on the position of deputy governor with three of the five holders including the incumbent, Mrs. Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire being females. Governor Bola Tinubu’s first deputy, Akerele Bucknor and Governor Babatunde Fashola’s first term deputy, Mrs. Sarah Sosan were the other two females.

However, following the determination and the seeming consensus of the APC hierarchy in the state to project a Christian in the person of Akinwunmi Ambode for the position of governor, Vanguard learnt that some Muslims also interested in the ticket of deputy governor have sought to present the argument that the office of deputy governor should be reserved for a male Muslim. The argument of the advocates it was learnt was that a woman Muslim should not be seen to be leading the men flock in religious and other civil events.

The argument has, however, ruffled feathers in the female flank of the party with a number of them asserting that the argument was an attempt to subjugate the women flock in the party.

“Must it mean that because one is a female Muslim that one cannot hold a position,” one prominent member of the party asked yesterday.

“If we allow that, it then means that we are quietly giving way to the theory that a woman cannot be a governor of Lagos,” the female party member said.

The canvassers of the female position it was learnt were mobilising to project the fact that two Muslim women have in the past held the position of deputy governor and served the state well. Alhaja Latefat Okunnu and Alhaja Sinatu Ojikutu served as deputy governor of Lagos State in the nineties.

Meanwhile, there are reports that the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP in Lagos is itself planning to present a mixed sex ticket of a male and a woman for the gubernatorial contest.