The Lagos State chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party and the Action Peoples Party have rejected outcomes of Saturday’s council poll, saying the outcomes did not reflect the will of residents.
Officials of both parties spoke on Sunday.
The All Progressives Congress won all 57 chairmanship seats and 375 out of 376 councillorship seats in the council election held on Saturday, according to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC).
Reacting, the PDP Deputy Chairman (Lagos West), Sunday Olaifa, said during an interview that the results of the election were manipulated to favour the APC, adding that the ruling party did not win as claimed.
Mr Olaifa said, “The PDP in Lagos State rejects in totality the outcome of July 12 council elections in the state. It is nothing but a mockery of democracy going by the manipulations and scenes of inducement of voters that we saw. For a party that has been in power for over 20 years under various names to depend on rigging before winning a local government election, shows the party is already rejected. APC didn’t win that election. The election didn’t hold in many polling units and results were written. For instance, at Ajao Estate of Isolo LCDAs, out of 36 polling units, till the close of the election, LASIEC officers were not in about 22 polling units. This happened in a few other areas.”
Mr Olaifa, who noted that the process leading into the election was flawed with many candidates not cleared, said that the election fell short of known democratic standards.
The PDP chieftain said that the ruling party would be rejected in 2027 general elections given the “true outcome” of the council polls.
Similarly, the APP Chairman, Abiola Adeyemi, described LASIEC’s disenfranchisement of some candidates properly nominated by their political parties as uncalled for.
Mrs Adeyemi stated that the just-concluded election was not an improvement in any way on previous exercises, urging the commission to return to the drawing board.
She stated, “This election is not free, fair and credible by any standard. It is the worst election ever conducted in Lagos State. Many candidates were not screened and their candidacy not validated by LASIEC for different flimsy reasons even after those candidates were duly nominated by their political parties. How can an election where many candidates were disqualified by the umpire for no just cause and party logo missing on the ballot be regarded as credible. We complained but the commission turned deaf ears to appeals to accept our candidates. Our logo, APP logo, was not even on the ballot paper in Badagry. LASIEC officers even came late to many polling units.’’
According to her, many stakeholders, especially the political parties, were disappointed in the conduct of the election.
The LASIEC Chairman, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (retd), on Sunday admitted that logistics issues caused late arrival of officials and electoral materials in some areas which was quickly attended to.
(NAN)