Some opposition political parties in Lagos State have called for the outright cancellation of Saturday’s Local Government Elections, describing the exercise as undemocratic and a daylight robbery.
The parties including the Labour Party (LP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), African Action Congress (AAC), Action People’s Party (APP), and the Accord Party made the call during a joint press conference held on Tuesday in Lagos.
Leaders of the various parties stated that the election conducted by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) was marred by irregularities and the disenfranchisement of numerous opposition candidates.
Speaking at the event, Pastor Dayo Ekong, Chairperson of the LP in Lagos, condemned what she described as “orchestrated electoral fraud and blatant bias” in the council elections. Her address was read by her deputy, Mr Olasupo Ajayi.
Ekong described the election as a systematic, state-sponsored assault on democracy.
“The just-concluded Local Government Elections were not an exercise in democratic choice; they were a premeditated, meticulously executed charade designed solely to impose the ruling party’s will on the people of Lagos.
We witnessed, and documented, widespread irregularities orchestrated by LASIEC.
We categorically reject the fraudulent results declared by LASIEC in the affected LGAs.
We hold Justice Bola Ighile personally responsible for this travesty and for the total erosion of LASIEC’s credibility under her leadership.
Our resolve remains firm. We are compiling comprehensive evidence of these electoral violations and will pursue every legal and constitutional channel available to challenge this electoral injustice.
The Labour Party will not allow this daylight robbery to go unchallenged,” Ekong stated.
She further criticised the absence of essential voting materials including ballot papers, result sheets, and even ballot boxes in several local government areas.
Similarly, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji of the YPP described the process leading up to the polls as fundamentally flawed, alleging that over 100 candidates from various parties were disenfranchised due to LASIEC’s inflexibility.
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Mobolaji, the immediate past Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said that the logos of some political parties including the YPP, APP, and LP were omitted from ballot papers in several local governments.
According to him, the elections were characterised by ballot box snatching, the secret relocation of polling units, and unlawful collation of results.
“The process leading up to the elections was riddled with irregularities and inconsistencies. The electoral timetable was confusing, overly demanding, and burdensome for opposition parties.
Some parties only received nomination forms two days before the election. How can credibility be ascribed to such an election?
Many candidates paid for nomination forms ₦150,000 for chairmanship, ₦25,000 for vice-chairmanship, and ₦50,000 for councillorship which LASIEC never refunded.
Appeals to LASIEC, the Governor, the State House of Assembly, the Commissioner of Police, and the Department of State Services were ignored.
We struggled to submit our party agents’ lists, and tags were not ready until the eve of the election. YPP had to collect just 310 tags out of more than 3,000 expected, and we were advised to photocopy them on Friday night.
Why were political party logos missing from ballot papers when only 15 parties contested?
Voters arrived at their usual polling units only to find them absent, or without LASIEC officials present.
In some areas, the voter registers provided by LASIEC contained names and photos unrelated to the actual voters. We have photographic and video evidence to substantiate these claims,” he said.
He called for the total nullification of the election results.
Mrs Abiola Adeyemi, the State APP Chairperson and IPAC Secretary, alleged that she was nearly assaulted by APC thugs in Badagry for protesting the removal of the APP logo from ballot papers.
Mr Dele Oladeji, State Chairman of the Accord Party, echoed the sentiments, stating that opposition parties found themselves contesting not against each other, but against LASIEC itself.
“LASIEC did not act as an impartial electoral umpire but as a partisan player. The rigging was systematic and pre-planned.
We were denied access to observe the distribution of sensitive electoral materials. We were blindfolded going into the polls.
Winners were declared without presenting results. We are demanding that LASIEC make the actual results public for scrutiny.
Since LASIEC appears unwilling to listen to our appeals, we will approach the election tribunal and the courts where necessary,” Oladeji stated.
According to LASIEC, the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all 57 chairmanship positions and 375 out of 376 councillorship seats in the election held on Saturday.
Reacting to the outcome, the APC, through a statement issued on Sunday by its State Publicity Secretary, Mr Seye Oladejo, thanked the electorate, asserting that the results reflected the will of Lagos residents.
