By Damilola Kushimo, Edith Igbokwe and Motolani AbdulGafar
Less than 12 days to the local government elections in Lagos State, the political atmosphere has changed in Oshodi-Isolo LGA, Isolo LCDA and Ejigbo LCDA as various political parties intensify their campaigns to win the elections.
According to the timetable released by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), the election is scheduled to hold across the state on Saturday, July 24, this year.
Although many political parties are participating in the exercise, only two (All Progressives Congress and Peoples Democratic Party) are fielding candidates for all the chairmanship and councillorship positios in the three councils.
The other party in the competition, the Young Progressives Party (YPP), is presenting only two councillorship candidates in Oshodi-Isolo LG.
It was gathered that the party has no chairmanship candidate in the three local councils and no councillorship candidate in Isolo and Ejigbo LCDAs.
YPP is fielding Adekunle Somorin in Afariogun ward D3 and Nnadi Ebere Peter in Shogunle ward in Oshodi-Isolo LGA.
Somorin confirmed to ECHONEWS that his party is also taking part in the election and ready to win.
No fewer than two candidates are already clinking glasses of victory, thanks to the fact that none of the 14 parties rivalling APC in the July 24th election put up a successful candidate against them.
Thus, expected to be returned unopposed are the APC councillorship candidate for Igbehinadun ward in Oshodi-Isolo LGA, Azeez Jaiyeola and his counterpart in Ogunoloko ward, Khadijah Jimoh.
Oshodi-Isolo LG has eight of the political posts – a chairmanship and seven councillorship positions same as Isolo LCDA. Ejigbo LCDA has only six councillorship positions.
In Oshodi-Isolo LG, Otunba Kehinde Oloyede, the APC chairmanship candidate will be contesting against Comrade Ridwan Akanni Akinbiyi of the PDP.
In Isolo LCDA, the incumbent vice chairman of the council, Hon. Adebayo Olasoju will be leading the pack for APC to confront the PDP candidate, Hon. Tajudeen Bamigboye. Bamigboye is a former councillorship aspirant from Ilasamaja ward.
The incumbent chairman of Ejigbo LCDA, who won the APC chairmanship ticket for his re-election, Hon. Monsuru Bello Obe is preparing to fend off competition from his contender in PDP, Hon. Rasheed Otegbola.
For the councillorship positions, the outgoing council leader in Oshodi-Isolo LG, Hon. Rasheed Obasa who represents Oluyeye ward is one of the familiar faces amongst the councillorship candidates of the ruling APC. He will be competing with Hon. Ajayi Ibrahim of PDP for the councillorship position in the ward.
In Oshodi-Isolo LGA, the battle to become the next councillor of the wards is drawn as follows: Sogunle ward – Femi Mustapha (APC), Kunle Oyewole (PDP); Ewu ward – Ige Adeaga (APC), Rilwan Bamisedun (PDP); Afariogun ward – Wasiu Faluade (APC), Alaba Dawodu (PDP); Mafoluku ward – Kazeem Abayomi (APC), Owolabi Agbolade (PDP).
In Isolo, five out of the seven councillorship candidates of the APC are members of the outgoing Legislative Arm. Hon. Remy Shittu Remy, the sixth first term councillor who also doubled as the Leader, has been replaced with Hon. Yusuf Agbabiaka to fly the party’s flag in Apena ward in the elections.
The seventh councillor, Idris Agbabiaka, representing Akinbaiye ward was dropped because he has served twice as councillor first from 2011-2014 and again from 2017 to 2021.
The ward by ward councillorship options available for the voters to choose on July 24th are as follows: Ishagatedo/Ire-Akari ward – Mrs. Abisodun Odusina-Adeoye (APC), Ayobami Davies (PDP); Ilasamaja ward – Akeem Adeyemi (APC), Wasiu Shoetan (PDP); Okota – Kanayo Osondu (APC), Kazeem llelaboye (PDP); Alagbeji ward – Olanrewaju Kayode (APC), Opeyemi Osanyintola (PDP); Apena ward – Yusuf Agbabiaka (APC), Comrade Isiaq Shonubi (PDP); Ajao Estate ward – Chidiebere Iheasirim (APC), Andrew Mbachu (PDP); Akinbaiye ward – Idris Babatunde Amusa (APC), Adeoye Agbabiaka (PDP).
In Ejigbo LCDA where seven councillorship positions are up for grasp, the contest will go as follows: Ilamoshe ward – Olanrewaju Akinbowale (APC), Moriamo Yekinni (PDP); Ifoshi ward – Mrs. Grace Okere-Nwankwo (APC), Chinaku Ezenduka (PDP); Oke-Afa ward – Ismail Omoniyi (APC), Adebiyi Taiwo (PDP); Aigbaka ward – Suraju Muritala (APC), Solomon Oboh (PDP); Fadu ward – Tajudeen Shonde (APC), Ismaheel Ajibola, (PDP); and Ailegun ward – Rotimi AbdulFattah Shitta-Bey (APC), Johnson Fagbuyi (PDP).
In separate interviews, the PDP chairman in Oshodi-Isolo LG, Hon. Sunday Olaifa, boasted that his party has all it takes to break the hegemony of APC in the council area.
He said the election will be competitive between the two parties, emphasising that the election must be free and fair.
On the other hand, the APC chairman in Isolo LCDA, Barr. Ganiu Bello said his party is putting everything in place to claim victory across the wards in the local council area, stating that landslide victory will also be recorded for the party in Oshodi and Ejigbo and the entire Lagos State.
Meanwhile, political analysts said the ruling APC party will need to work harder to break the PDP’s stronghold in some wards especially in Isolo LCDA for it to be victorious.