In all, 12 parties have presented candidates to contest for the Senate seat, while eight parties presented candidates for the House of Assembly election.
Registered voters in Lagos East Sanatorial District will on Saturday elect a new senator for the senatorial district. On the same day, registered voters in Kosofe II constituency of Lagos will elect a new House of Assembly member to represent the constituency.
This is following the demise of Bayo Oshinowo and Tunde Braimoh who represented Lagos East and Kosofe II in the Senate and the state assembly respectively.
Amongst the candidates for the Senate seat, the main contest is believed to be between the candidate of the All Progressive Congress (APC) and the candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).
While Mr Abiru resigned his position as the Managing Director of Polaris Bank to join the race, Mr Gbadamosi was a gubernatorial candidate in the 2019 election under the aegis of Action Democratic Party, (ADP) but later defected to PDP where he grabbed the ticket to contest for the senatorial position.
Other candidates for the Lagos East Senatorial District election are: Adebowale Ogunlaru of Action Democratic Party (ADP); Olusola Babatope, Allied Peoples Movement (APM); Florence Trautman, Labour Party (LP); Adijat Lawal, New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP); Olakunle Adisa, National Rescue Movement (NRM); Saheed Aluko, Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Taiwo Temitope, Young Progressive Party (YPP).
The candidates for the Kosofe Constituency II bye-election are John Akerele (AA), Sadiq Olawale (AAC), Wasiu Saheed (APC), Adekunle Oladapo (LP) , Muyideen Agoro (NNPP), Ademorin Adelaja (NRM), Sikiru Alebiosu (PDP), and Mary Abojeh (ADC).
According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, a total of 1,168,790 voters are registered to participate in the December 5 rescheduled by-elections.
The Lagos East Senatorial District comprises five local government areas; Kosofe, Somolu, Ikorodu, Epe and Ibeju-Lekki.
Saturday’s election will be held across the 71 wards, 1,928 polling units, and 188 voting points of the districtThe Chairperson of Nigerians in Diaspora Commission, Abike Dabiri, and her husband, Segun Erewa, have voted at polling unit 7, Ward 1, Isele-Ayangburen Junction in Ikorodu Local Government Area of Lagos.
Mrs Dabiri and her husband arrived the polling unit around 11 a.m. and went straight to the election officers who accredited and allowed them to cast their votes.
Speaking on the election process, Mrs Dabiri said the low turnout of voters could be because it is a bye-election.
“As expected, it is not as high as general elections, but it is peaceful, you walk in, cast your vote and leave. And even in other areas of Ikorodu, it’s been peaceful.
“We just hope for the very best, but it’s been smooth, orderly and stress-less. Few cases of card readers not functioning were eventually sorted,” she added.
At her polling unit, many party members and agents were seen. On her arrival, the people kept cheering her and singing her praises.
Mrs Dabiri said the most important thing is that people were voting, though not as high as the general elections.
“I noticed that more people came out to vote when I got here. This is a bye-election and every election is important.
“As we move on, there must be more voter awareness, vote and be voted for. Nigerians must be able to register to vote and I’m hoping that INEC will make it a continuous process so that people can prepare for the next election,” she said.
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