Nigeria’s ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) will boycott Saturday’s council polls in South-west Lagos state, the party said in a statement. “As a law abiding party, we shall not participate in any elections whose constituency delineation is outside the provisions of the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.” The main opposition Action Congress (AC) is the ruling party in the state, which is the bastion of the nation’s economy. The immediate past AC government in the state created an additional 37 councils, in addition to the original 20, triggering a legal battle that went all the way to the Supreme Court. While the court ruled the state had the constitutional right to create the councils, it said the creation is subject to ratification by the upper legislative chamber, the Senate. Both the state and the federal government has interpreted the ruling to support their stand on the issue. The state electoral commission has said the elections would proceed as scheduled, with the AC and other parties participating.
