ADC conducts primaries in 15 Plateau LGAs ahead of council polls

The Plateau State chapter of the African Democratic Congress says it has successfully conducted primaries in 15 out of the state’s 17 local government areas ahead of the upcoming local government elections.

The party’s state chairman, Hanatu Gagara, disclosed this while speaking on the preparations for the polls scheduled for September 9.

According to her, the primaries were conducted peacefully across most of the local government areas, except in Mikang and Langtang South.

Gagara explained that the affected local governments were unable to participate in the exercise because their representatives arrived late to obtain nomination forms.

“What really happened was that the two local governments came late to obtain the forms, and by then we couldn’t sell the forms to them anymore because the time had already elapsed,” she said.

She, however, noted that the development might still be addressed following an extension granted by the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission in line with provisions of the new electoral law.

“Now that the Plateau State Independent Electoral Commission has increased the period for the primaries based on the new electoral act, their issue will be looked into. We haven’t started the process yet because I just received the letter this afternoon from PLASIEC regarding what happened,” she added.

Gagara said the party now has candidates contesting for both councillorship and chairmanship positions in the 15 local government areas where primaries were successfully conducted.

She expressed confidence that the party was well positioned to perform strongly in the forthcoming election.

According to her, the ADC, which she described as a major opposition party in the state, has nominated credible candidates capable of challenging the ruling party.

“Well, we have great chances of winning the elections. As you can see, even with defections from various parties, many people are coming in. That alone shows that there is a great possibility and strong prospects of winning,” she said.

The party chairman also stated that members had been fully mobilised to participate in all electoral processes leading up to the September polls.

She added that the party’s electronic registration exercise was ongoing and encouraged members to validate their membership records.

“Our members are enthusiastic, especially now that they know the congresses are coming up. A lot of people are participating and we have stationed officials in various local governments who are continuing with the registration,” she said.

Gagara urged both existing and prospective members of the party to visit their wards and local government offices to confirm and validate their membership details as the election approaches.