Abike Dabiri-Erewa declares Lagos local government elections free and fair as APC sweeps the polls

SENIOR special assistant to President Muhammadu Buhari on diaspora affairs Hon Abike Dabiri-Erewa has declared yesterday's local government elections in her native Lagos State as free and fair despite a few hiccups.

Yesterday, Lagosians went to the polls to vote across the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas in the state. Despite the usual tension and bickering, by and large the elections passed off peacefully with the ruling All Progressives Congress sweeping the polls across the state.

Hon Dabiri-Erewa, once the member representing Ikorodu in the House of Representatives, cast her vote in her old constituency yesterday. She said that the local government elections were critical to grassroots development.

Oba Kabiru Shotobi, the Ikorodu monarch, urged the local youth to support democracy with participation and peaceful conduct in elections. He said that youths would be leaders in the future and should participate actively in elections, while he also described the council elections as free and fair.

A total of 12 political parties presented candidates for the chairmanship and councillorship positions during the elections. They include Accord Party, Action Alliance, Alliance for Democracy, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APC, Peoples' Democratic Party (PDP) and Kowa.

Others are Labour Party, United Democratic Party, United Progressive Party, National Action Council and the Peoples Democratic Movement. Initially billed as a two-horse race between the APC and the PDP, in-fighting within the two parties in the state opened the window for the other contenders to join the race through other parties.

During the polls, Hon Rita Orji, the member of the House of Representatives representing Araromi-Ifelodun Constituency had alleged that members of her PDP party were intimidated by hired thugs. Despite the problems, however, Hon Orji, the chair of the House of Representatives Committee on Diaspora, was able to cast her vote in her constituency.