Lagos State Government yesterday announced restriction of movements tomorrow, (Saturday) between the hours of 8.00am and 4.00pm throughout the state.
This is comimg as President Umaru Musa Yar’Adua and the Federal Government were advised against following the footstep of former President Olusegun Obasanjo by dabbling into local government election affairs in Lagos.
Former National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Solomon D. Lar, National Chairman of Action Congress (AC), Chief Bisi Akande, leader of Niger Delta Volunteer Force, Alhaji Mujahedeen Asari-Dokubo and other speakers gave the advice yesterday at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.
The leaders, who spoke at the grand finale of AC’s campaign for tomorrow’s local government election in Lagos State contended that everything connected with local government polls was purely state and local government affair.
Announcing the restriction on movement during a press conference in Lagos, State Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Mr. Opeyemi Bamidele, said it was intended to ensure a smooth conduct of the polls and hitch-free movement of electoral materials.
He said that adequate arrangements have been made with the security agencies to ensure safety of lives and property, including the election officials and the voters during the election. He solicited the co-operation of all Lagosians to make the elections a success, adding that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) was ready deliver a transparent poll.
Bamidele also denied that the PDP had pulled out of the election, stressing that the list of candidates published in some national newspapers by LASIEC yesterday showed that the party and nine others, including the Action Congress (AC) had fielded candidates for the election.
He referred to a press conference addressed by some PDP candidates for the election on Wednesday dissociating themselves from the directive by the party’s national headquarters that its candidates would not be participating in the election. The Commissioner equally contended that the deadline for withdrawal by candidates was September 26, stressing that as at that date, no PDP candidate had pulled out.
Oct102008