The Independent National Electoral Commission has revealed that in Lagos State, 299 candidates across various political parties are jostling for the National Assembly seats in the 2019 general elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria reports that the INEC timetable and schedule of activities for the 2019 general elections indicated that publication of personal particulars of candidates (CF001) for the Presidential and National Assembly elections would be made on October 25.
A check by a NAN correspondent at INEC office in Lagos revealed that 50 candidates are contesting for the three Lagos Senatorial seats from 25 political parties in the state.
Similarly, 249 candidates across 30 political parties are contesting the state’s 24 seats in the House of Representatives.
Section 31(3) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended), provides that the publication must be made within seven days of the receipt of the form from political parties at the constituency where the candidate intends to contest the election.
A breakdown of the list showed that the Lagos West Senatorial District has the highest contenders of 22 candidates, while Lagos East and Lagos Central had 15 and 13 contestants respectively.
For the House of Representatives seats, out of the 30 political parties participating, only PDP, APC and ADC fielded candidates in all the 24 federal constituencies while others did not.
Meanwhile, 76 political parties will be contesting for the Office of the President in 2019 general elections according to the INEC publication.
Speaking to NAN on the development, Mr Femi Akinbiyi, the Lagos INEC Public Relations Officer, said the commission had fulfilled the requirements of Section 31(1 and 3) of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended) with the publication.