PGD Urge LASIEC To Disqualify Candidates Seeking Third Term

By Mohammed Adekola

The Progressive Group for Democracy (PGD) has raised the alarm over an alleged plot to enable some council chairmen in Lagos State secure an unconstitutional third term in office.

PGD National Coordinator, Aladesanmi Abiodun Salawu, alleged that All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates in Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA and Ikosi Isheri LCDA are ineligible to contest in the upcoming local government elections.

Salawu claimed that the candidates in question previously assumed office following the deaths of elected chairpersons, were subsequently elected for a full term, and are now attempting to extend their tenure effectively seeking a third term.

Salawu cited the Fourth Alteration Bill No. 16, signed into law by former President Muhammadu Buhari in 2018, which bars anyone who has taken the oath of office twice from seeking a third term, even if one of those terms came through succession.

Salawu stated: “This is a third term agenda disguised as legal technicality. The Nigerian Constitution is supreme and Section 7 guarantees democratically elected councils, not political manipulation.”

He called on President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, and the Attorney General of the Federation, Prince Lateef Fagbemi (SAN) to take immediate action.

He further urged the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to demonstrate independence by disqualifying all candidates seeking a third term, warning that failure to act would suggest complicity.

Salawu concluded with a call to action: “The Lagos Society for Good Governance will use every legal means to challenge this. We will mobilize civil society, go to court, and if necessary, protest peacefully.”