Lagos LG election: APC primaries underway amid heavy security

By Adeyemi Adeleye/Adekunle Williams

The All Progressives Congress(APC) Local Government  chairmanship primaries are currently underway at the party secretariat in Ikeja,amid heavy security.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has fixed July 12 to conduct elections into the 20 Local Governments (LGs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas(LCDAs) in the state.

NAN political correspondents  monitoring  the primaries report that there is heavy presence of  police operatives at the venue to ensure a  hitch-free conduct.

The State  Commissioner of Police ,CP Moshood Jimoh, is seen  monitoring  security situation within and around  the venue.

Operatives of Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), and those of Department of State Security (DSS) are also on ground to provide security.

Officials of Lagos State Traffic Management Authority (LASTMA) are also on ground .

Vehicular movements on  the entire stretch of the road leading to the venue were restricted .

The development created  gridlock around ACME Road and other roads, forcing vehicles to take alternative routes to access their destinations.

NAN reports that hundreds of  delegates  from the different council areas are currently  being screened for accreditation.

Addressing newsmen  briefly before the commencement of the delegates accreditation, the Chairman of the APC Electoral Committee, Mr Babatunde Ogala, called for fair reportage from the media.

Ogala, who asked the media of their assessment of the venue, said that the committee had provided adequate security for all the participants.

He said  though the accreditation was supposed to start at 9.00am, the committee delayed commencement by some minutes to ensure delegates coming from far places were part of the process.