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Akinwande Soji-Ojo
The chairman of Labour Party in Lagos State, Olukayode Salako, has revealed the reason behind the omission of the names of the party’s Senatorial and House of Representatives candidates on the final list of candidates for the 2023 general elections published by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Speaking with newsmen on Saturday, Salako explained that the party’s candidates were omitted from the list because a former chairman of the party, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, did not submit their names to INEC at the appropriate time.
He, however, assured residents that the party’s national assembly candidates would still make the list before voters go to the polls as they were already considering the court option to address the issue.
The final list of candidates for the general elections published on the commission’s website on September 1 showed that the LP and five other parties in Lagos State did not have candidates for the National Assembly polls.
The parties are Action Alliance, All Peoples Party, African Action Congress, All Progressive Grand Alliance, Allied Peoples Movement, Labour Party, and Peoples Redemption Party.
But Salako said whether the party campaigns or not, it will form the next government in Lagos State.
He said: “The former chairman of the party, Ifagbemi Awamaridi, did not present the names. He went there (INEC) late and the window closed. We are considering the court option and we will soon have the names of our candidates in the process. It is through the courts that our candidates will be uploaded (on INEC’s website).
“Whether we campaign or not, the Labour Party is forming the next government in Lagos. This is because Lagos residents and Nigerians as a whole are looking for a fresh platform where Nigeria will be run better for the generality of the citizens. There is a revolution going on in the hearts of people; people are tired of the APC, and that revolution is already campaigning for us.”