Lagos PDP Rejects 57 Sole Administrators

The Lagos State Chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), has vehemently kicked against the appointment of 57 sole administrators for the local governments and council development areas by the All Progressive Congress led-administration in the state stating that it was another ploy to intimidate the oppositions.

The Lagos State Governor, Akinwunmi Ambode, had on Friday appointed the sole administrators to oversee the affairs of the Councils pending the conduct of local government elections at a yet to be determined date.

The State governor had earlier in the week relieved all the Executive Secretaries and Caretaker Committees who ran the affairs of the councils for the past two years in line with a motion adopted by the Lagos State House of Assembly ordering the governor to do so.

In a statement issued by its Publicity Secretary, Taofiq Gani, the party was worried over the development which it described as a ploy to undermine the good wishes of the people who are uncomfortable with the leadership styles of the APC and will be eager to vote them out before its bad policies become prominent in the state.

 “The sole administrators were appointed to continue to occupy the councils in proxy for the APC, for another period not less than three months, instead of allowing the LASIEC (state electoral commission), to announce date for  council polls.

“The PDP holds that the governor and the APC are jittery and unpopular  of going into the grass roots elections in the state, thus the  decisions to control the councils by nomenclature of executive secretaries and sole administrators, which are alien and offensive to the provisions of our Constitution, which under section 7 guarantees only democratically elected local government council administrations”, Gani said

According to the statement by the State government, the sole administrators will be sworn-in on Tuesday.

The opposition particularly the PDP and civil society had mounted intense pressures on the state Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) for conduct of the local government elections in line with the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.