The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has released the list of validated candidates for the Chairmanship and Councillorship elections into the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the State scheduled for Saturday, 22nd July, 2017.

In line with its statutory responsibilities, the Commission had requested all the candidates, whose names were submitted as vying for elective offices in the forthcoming elections, to appear before it for validation.

During the validation exercise, the candidates whose names were submitted presented their documents as specified in the Guidelines published by the Commission for screening.

A total of twelve political parties presented candidates for the Chairmanship and Councillorship posts for the elections.

The parties are Accord Party (AP), Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy (AD), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).

Others are United Democratic Party (UDP), United Progressive Party (UPP), Kowa Party (KP), National Action Council (NAC) and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).

The list containing the names of validated candidates for the Chairmanship and Councillorship posts in the Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas of the State had been pasted on the notice board at the Yaba, Lagos office of the Commission for the observation of candidates and interested members of the public.

In a related development, the Commission has commenced a three-day Trainer of Trainers Course for Electoral Officers in the 57 Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas of the State as part of preparations for the conduct of the Saturday, 22nd July 2017 elections in the State.

The course which is facilitated by the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) is designed as a master-trainer programme as the participants are expected to train all the ad-hoc personnel who will be engaged in the conduct of the elections.

Speaking during the opening ceremony of the course, the Chairman of the Commission, Hon. Justice Ayotunde Phillips, urged participants to take advantage offered by the course and demonstrate an open mind to learning and change to enhance the electoral process at the Local Government level of the State.

Hon. Justice Phillips commended IFES for its continuous support towards the Commission, particularly with regard to training and capacity development of the personnel of the Commission to enable them to internalise international best practices in election administration and management.

IFES is a United States-based organisation operating in over 100 countries of the world for the entrenchment of democracy and election international best practices. The organisation is being supported by USAID and UKAID.

The three-day course with the title “IFES ElectionTraining on Polling and Counting Procedures for LASIEC Trainers”will end on Thursday.

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