LAGOS State Chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC), on Friday, said 260 delegates would participate from the state in the party’s National Convention holding in Abuja on Saturday.
The Assistant Publicity Secretary of the chapter, Mr Abiodun Salami gave the figure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
He said the delegates cut across all the approved 20 local government areas in the state.
Salami said that the delegates from the state were in high spirit and ready to express themselves democratically at the convention.
On the chapter’s expectations at the convention, Salami said Lagos APC expected nothing less than a peaceful and acceptable convention.
He told NAN that the party leadership had put a lot of planning into the exercise and that the chapter was optimistic of a successful outing.
“Our expectations are great and positive. We expect that everything will go on as planned as the leadership has done a lot in the area of planning.
“In summary, we expect a successful convention that will deepen unity in the party,” he said.
Salami said the withdrawal of other chairmanship aspirants for former governor of Edo state Mr Adams Oshiomole was sign that the convention would be rancour-free.
He added that with the “voluntary withdrawal” of Chief Clement Ebri and Prof. Oserhiemen Osunbor for Oshiomole, the APC had demonstrated that politics was all about understanding and concessions.
The publicity secretary said more of such understanding was expected for the other positions at the convention.
On Wednesday’s court ruling declining to stop the main Lagos APC from presenting delegates to the convention, Salami said the main chapter had been vindicated.
He said the rival group led by a Chieftain, Mr Fouad Oki was only looking for relevance by challenging the legitimacy of the main Lagos APC to present delegates for the convention.
“We have been vindicated by the ruling. And that means the other group who have been challenging the structure of the party in the state has no ‘locus standi.’
“It means they are seeking relevance at all costs with their recent activities.
“We advice they should come back to the main fold of the party rather than chasing shadows and causing unnecessary distractions,” he said.