The All Progressives Congress (APC) is set to conduct its primary elections today, May 10, 2025, at the State Secretariat on Acme Road, Ikeja, ahead of the Lagos local government elections scheduled for July 12.
According to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), the July polls will elect chairmen and councilors across the 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). In total, 377 councilors will be chosen from the state’s 377 wards.
Following the screening process, the APC Electoral Committee approved 432 chairmanship aspirants from the 470 that submitted nomination forms.
The primaries will determine candidates for both chairmanship and councillorship seats across all 57 councils.
To ensure a peaceful process, the party has opted to pursue consensus arrangements among leaders, aspirants, and members.
“The party stated that adopting consensus lists for both the councillor and chairman seats would ensure a rancor-free primary exercise and sustain the existing unity among members of Lagos APC.”
Highlighting the sheer number of contenders, APC leaders noted, “We have 57 councils, but the number of aspirants is over 400, and all of them can’t seat in office.”
Chairman of the Electoral Committee, Babatunde Ogala, SAN, assured stakeholders that the party is fully prepared for the exercise.
Ogala said, “The constitution recognizes direct, indirect, and consensus primaries, but for this council primary, we are adopting indirect primaries. The electoral body, which are the delegates, have been constituted.”
He added, “For chairmanship, the designated venue is the party Secretariat in Ogba, where all aspirants will converge. The aspirants are expected to come with only one agent.”
Ogala also disclosed that 38 chairmanship aspirants had either been disqualified or voluntarily withdrawn from the race.
At a recent stakeholders’ forum, top APC leaders, including the Chairman of the Governor’s Advisory Council (GAC), Tajudeen Olusi, Deputy Governor Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, Speaker of the House of Assembly Mudasiru Obasa, Senator Oluranti Adebule, and former Deputy Governor Olufemi Pedro, urged aspirants and supporters to maintain peace.
In his remarks, Olusi called for cooperation and unity: “We are here to advise you. Since the early days of democracy, primaries have always been through consensus. With patience and support, there will be a way out. That is why wisdom is applied in politics.”
Meanwhile, Seye Oladejo, the APC Lagos chapter’s Publicity Secretary, told our correspondent on Friday that security would be tight around the venue to ensure the exercise goes smoothly and without disruption.
