At last, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) Monday night released the results of the chairmanship and councillorship elections into 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) with the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) winning almost all the contested positions.
The election results, which the LASIEC Chairman, Justice Abdulfatai Adeyinka, (rtd), made public at the Yaba head office of the commission, showed the ACN, the state’s ruling party, won all the 57 chairmanship positions in all LGAs and LCDAs across the state. .
Of the 376 councillorship positions, ACN won 355 seats; People's Democratic Party (PDP) had 18 seats; Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) got 2 and the result of one of the wards was inconclusive, due to a situation, which the chairman said, could not be clearly resolved without a re-run.
At a session with the journalists, the LASIEC Chairman urged all political parties that were not satisfied with the results to approach the election tribunal and election appeal tribunal, which he said, the State Chief Judge, Inumidun Akande had set up before the conduct of the election.
According to him, the aggrieved parties and candidates should approach the constituted election tribunal and election appeal tribunal to resolve their disputes. “I cannot go into detail now so as not to prejudice the interest of other political parties. Let them go to the tribunal for redress,” he added.
The chairman also said 28 political parties participated in the process; 250 candidates contested the chairmanship positions and 1,145 candidates for councillorship seats across all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the state.
But a wide range of controversies have been trailing the results of Badagry LGA, Eredo LCDA, Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Agbado Oke-Odo LCDA and Somolu LGA, where the PDP had earlier claimed that they won on Sunday, 24 hours before LASIEC formally declared the result.
In its reaction, National Headquarters of PDP accused the ACN of rigging the election.
In a statement, the party’s National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Ahmed Alkali, said: “The massive rigging and manipulation of figures as well as the withholding of results by the ACN-controlled LASIEC all go to expose the hypocrisy of the ACN which is quick to shout lauded murder whenever they lose elections”.
PDP repeated its earlier stand that the outcome of the council election in Lagos state was pre-determined, saying,
“We had earlier alerted the people of Lagos State of deliberate measures put in place by the ACN to pre determine the outcome of the exercise. While we have never doubted the ACN’s capacity for mischief, the conduct of its officials as well as the staff of LASIEC in this election beats our widest imagination”.
The statement said that the party expresses its sadness and disappointment with the conduct of the elections.
According to the PDP, “Our agents recorded cases of massive ballot stuffing, physical intimidation and clear cases of bias by the electoral umpire”.
PDP commended its candidates and supporters for braving all the odds and putting up a great showing in spite of what it described as “numerous obstacles erected by the hypocritical ACN government in Lagos”.
PDP reassured that in a free and fair contest, that it remains the party to beat in each and every state of Nigeria, urging its members and supporters to remain calm and law abiding as it is prepared to use every available legitimate means to ensure that the will of the people is truly expressed.
The statement called on law enforcement agencies to ensure that those LASIEC officials arrested for electoral fraud do not escape justice.
Similarly, Lagos State Chairman of PDP, Mr. Setonji Koshoedo, said his party won chairmanship positions in Badagry Central LCDA, Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, Eredo LCDA, Somolu Local Government, Agbado/Oke-Odo LCDA and Ojo Local Government Area, as well as many councillorship positions spread in all the areas of the state.
According to him, “…in Badagry Central, elections were held peacefully. The results at polling booths distributed; same results were collated at Ward Collection Centres and thereafter announced by the Local Government (LG) Returning Officer in favour of the PDP.
“Yet LTV announced a different election result for Badagry Central. This is contrary to section 5(1) – (8) of LASIEC law which prescribes that election result can only be announced at polling units, ward collection centres and LG/LCDA Secretariat. This action of LTV is highly condemnable and will be better addressed at the appropriate time and place.”
At a news conference addressed by Dr. Oluyomi Finnih, the Elders Council of the PDP accused the ACN and LASIEC of manipulation of the elections.
Commenting on the outcome of the council polls, Finnih described the conduct as unsatisfactory, which he said, was unacceptable by all standards to the party.
He said: "We find it very important to react to the regrettable handling of the local government elections conducted last Saturday by the LASIEC in collaboration with the Lagos State Government. We want to state that the process has not been satisfactory, a development which portends danger for our democracy.
“As widely reported, the election was marred by noticeable abuses through rigging and violence across the state. Yet, we are pleased that Lagosians, who are hard hit by the poor performance of the local councils did exercise their civic duty by voting for the People’s Democratic Party,” he said.
The State Chairman of All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Prince Olayokun Adesina, said there were lots of irregularities at different polling units during the exercise.
According to him, “…at Agboroko, Iba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), our agents were beaten up by ACN members, we had to withdraw them. Even the PDP refused to sign the result sheets.
“ACN is worse than the PDP in terms of ballot stocking. In Coker Aguda, Itire-Ikate LCDA, there were a lot of irregularities. LASIEC officials colluded with ACN to rig us out by bringing a box containing only ACN thumb print of over 90 votes,” Adesina said.
Meanwhile, Chairman of the African Democratic Congress (ADC) in the state, Mr. Godfrey Lemchi, told NAN Monday that the party only took part in the election in order to showcase itself in the state.
He said that ADC fielded candidates in a few of the local council areas just to satisfy its conscience as a political party.
He said that ADC fielded candidates in a few of the local council areas just to satisfy its conscience as a political party.
Also speaking, state Chairman of the Justice Party (JP), Mr. Ayo Akintayo, commended the LASIEC for conducting a credible election.
He said that lack of resources made it impossible for his party to participate fully in the election.
He said that lack of resources made it impossible for his party to participate fully in the election.
Akintayo said that the party only participated to sell its ideals to the people of the state.
“We fielded candidates in some places. We did that, knowing very well that we did not have the ability to compete with the ruling party.
Chairman of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, Chief Ajibade Emi-abatta, described the election as “winner-takes-all”.
“We fielded candidates in some places. We did that, knowing very well that we did not have the ability to compete with the ruling party.
Chairman of the Congress of Progressive Change (CPC) in the state, Chief Ajibade Emi-abatta, described the election as “winner-takes-all”.
According to him, the poor turnout of voters during the election is a reflection of the distrust Nigerians have in the country’s local government system.
“There was apathy in the election; people were not coming out. People don’t trust the government any more because they believe their vote will not count.
“People are not happy about the way government is handling the citizenry; and it’s unfortunate in Lagos in the sense that you pay tax on everything you touch.
“Even if you urinate, you pay tax and then you are not having the best of it and that is what I think brought the apathy.”
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everyday“Even if you urinate, you pay tax and then you are not having the best of it and that is what I think brought the apathy.”
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