Our doors are open to aggrieved PDP members wishing to contest LG elections in Lagos, AD says

The Alliance for Democracy (AD) in Lagos on Monday said it would warmly receive aggrieved members of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) wishing to contest the July 22 council poll on its platform.

The state chairman of the party, Mr Kola Ajayi made the disclosure in Lagos.

He was reacting to a recent directive by the Moshood-Salvador faction of the PDP telling its aspirants to contest the July 22 council poll on platforms of their choice.

The Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr Taofik Gani had said the decision was a temporary arrangement to ensure that its aspirants were not denied participation in the poll.

Gani said that the arrangement had become inevitable as reconciliation with the Segun Adewale-led group for the party to unite for the polls was not yielding results.

Ajayi said the door of the party was open to aggrieved members of the PDP, but they would be allowed to contest on the party’s platform as long as they met the conditions.

“Disagreements are normal in politics, so are movements of politicians from parties to parties for certain reasons.

“So, if some of the aggrieved members of the PDP have decided to join us to contest the elections under our party, why not?

“Our doors are open. We will warmly receive them and they will surely be allowed to contest so far they agree to certain terms and conditions.

“One of the conditions will be that they will not come and use our platform and dump us afterwards. No, we don’t want ‘use and dump”, he said.

Ajayi, who is also the state chairman of the Inter-party Advisory Council (IPAC) in the state said the AD was perfecting preparations for the elections.

He added that IPAC was also taking steps to strengthen harmony among the political parties and ensure that the forthcoming polls were peaceful.

He said the party and IPAC were relying on the promise of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission that it would ensure the election was free and fair.

Assessing the performance of the Akinwunmi Ambode-led administration in the last two years, Ajayi said it had done well.

He said the achievement of the governor in the area of road construction was commendable, noting that gridlock had been significantly tackled.

“I commend Gov. Ambode. He has done well. He is visible in the area of infrastructural development.

“However, he can still do better. He can do better to make more impact on the lives of Lagosians,” he said.