No fewer than17 political parties are expected to participate in the forthcoming local government elections in Ogun State.
Mutiu Agboke, a Commissioner in the State Independent Electoral Commission, disclosed this at the screening exercise for councillorship aspirants of various political parties at the commission’s headquarters in Abeokuta on Thursday.
The commissioner, who also heads the screening committee, said the exercise was aimed at ascertaining the eligibility of the candidates to contest in the election.
Agboke assured the people of the state of the commission’s readiness to conduct free, fair and credible local government polls.
Commenting on the exercise, one of the aspirants, Temitope Babatunde, told the News Agency of Nigeria that the screening was thorough.
Babatunde said the exercise probed into their antecedents, credentials and programmes for the people at the grassroots.