No fewer than 114 women councillorship candidates on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC) are participating in the July12 local government elections, it was learnt yesterday.

There are 279 wards across the 20 pre-existing local governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).

Also, 10 women are in the race for chairmen at the poll, according to the results of the primaries conducted by the Election Committee headed by Babatunde Ogala (SAN) at the weekend.

They are Mrs. Olayemi Animasahun (Epe Council), Motunrayo Alogba (Ijede), Samiat Bada (Ikosi-Ketu), Muibat Rufai (Ojo) and Yemi Akindele Adunni (Mosan-Okunola).

Others are Idowu Senanjo (Apapa), Tola Oyedele-Abubakar (Agboyi-Ketu), Bukola Omope (Bariga), Aminat Alabi (Iru/Victoria Island), and Adeola Adetoro (Etiosa).

Protests against the results are being collated. Petitions are being received, to be looked into by the Appeal Panel.

Yesterday, the Election Panel headed by Babatunde Ogala (SAN) started preparing its report to the party, which has a final say because the tickets belong to the party. The primaries were neatly conducted and substantially credible. Delegates shunned unruly behaviour.

In fact, the delegates who constituted the electoral colleges are committed and dedicated party officers at the grassroots who knew the aspirants in their respective local councils. Many of them have been involved in grassroots politicking from the first and second republics. For example, the average age of delegates from Imota Council is between 65 and 70 years.

Delegates who spoke with reporters at the party office on Acme Road, Ogba, Ikeja after the exercise hailed Ogala and his team for their sense of innovation, firmness, effectiveness, efficiency, vigilance and compliance with the guidelines.

The security personnel on ground was led by Lagos State Police Commissioner Moshood Jimoh. The exercise was also witnessed by Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials.

House of Representatives member, Mrs. Kafilat Ogbara, hailed the outcome of the shadow polls, saying that Lagos APC is meeting the criterion of gender inclusivity.

She stressed: “To a large extent, we are moving close to it. We have to thank our president for making it happen. The instructions on inclusion was effectively and strictly adhered to. The instruction of the party leader was followed. There is an improvement in terms of the number of women now going to be chairmen of councils.”

The federal legislator said the onus is now on women who are being given the opportunities to live to expectation and justify the confidence reposed in them.

After the polls, more women are also likely to be appointed as supervisory councillors and leaders of councils’ legislatures.

More women obtained the nomination forms, unlike before. While 399 male chairmanship aspirants were cleared after screening, 76 women were also given the nod to contest.

Lagos APC chairman Pastor Cornelius Ojelabi has directed the local council party chairmen to adhere strictly to the directive to give special consideration to women aspirants.

The directive was contained in a letter titled: ‘The 2025 Local Government Councillorship Screening Result and the Party Instruction on Female Aspirants.’

It reads: “You are strictly advised to comply with the party’s instructions associated with the result on the need to consider female councillorship aspirants in our wards accordingly as per the attached list.”

Consequently, the State Working Committee (CWC) directed that women aspirants should be given concessions. The nomination form was slashed to N250,000 for women councillorship aspirants while their male counterparts paid N1 million.

Women who withdrew from the race before the commencement of the primaries are likely to get refund.

Two weeks ago, prominent women leaders in APC stormed the party secretariat to press for 30 percent women affirmation in the spirit of Beijing Declaration. They urged the Governance Advisory Council (GAC) to fulfill the promise of allocating more chairmanship and councillorship seats to women.

Ogbara, who spoke ahead of the nominations, said “it is crucial that we have gender balance in local government leadership.”

She added: “For example, where a man serves as chairman, a woman should be vice-chairman, and vice versa.”

She urged the party to emulate the great example of intentional gender representation set by former Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State.

Ogbara said: “Under his leadership, he ensured that in every local government where there was a male chairman, the vice-chairman was a woman. He also promoted female senators and members of the House of Representatives.

She added: “We need more leaders like him, men who are truly ‘He For She’ advocates. Recently, we honored such leaders during our National Women Awards, recognising men like President Bola Tinubu and other governors, such as AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara State, for their deliberate efforts to empower and position women.”

“During Tinubu’s leadership of the Action Congress (AC) and Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), he advocated for making politics more accessible to women. Many women can’t afford the high fees for nomination forms. So, we hope to see reforms that reduce these barriers and encourage more women to participate.”

A party source said President Tinubu and other party leaders reasoned that if Lagos can set a good example of improved women participation, other states may follow suit. Thefore, a deliberate opportunity was created to encourage ease of participation by women.

According to the source, “in any ward where the contestants are seven, three councillorship slots automatically go to women. Where they are five, two would go to women. This is to enhance women inclusion.”

But, some women also won the slots by merit. The members of the electoral colleges who gave them second term tickets considered their impressive performance as incumbent chairmen. Three of them-Animasahun, Alogba and Bada- stood out.

In fact, Animasahun and Alogba secured the tickets through consensus.

Bada, who has implemented some developmental projects in Ikosi-Ketu council, thanked President Tinubu for being gender-sensitive. “We are happy with what is happening in Lagos at the moment,” she said.

Lagos APC Women Leader Jumoke Okoya-Thomas said changed had occurred, adding that the chapter is now determined to encourage more women to cobtribute their quota to development.

Okoya-Thomas, a former member of the House of Representatives, added: “This time around, the party is actually thinking about women.” (The Nation)