Though the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) is yet to come up with the timetable for fresh council polls, there are indications that the contest may hold soon. Assistant Editor LEKE SALAUDEEN looks at the level of preparedness of the two major parties.
There are indications that the much-expected local government election in Lagos State will hold very soon. Although the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has not officially announced the date of the election, the body language of the commission suggests it will hold any moment from now.
To demonstrate government’s commitment to the conduct of the council election, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode recently inaugurated new members of the state electoral body headed by the immediate past Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ayotunde Philips. The governor promised that he would not interfere in the affairs of the commission. According to him, “LASIEC, as the statutory body saddled with the responsibility of conducting local government elections, has a critical role to play in entrenching the democratic process in the state”.
He charged members of the commission to live above board and truly live up to the public expectation as independent umpires. He added: “You must be transparent and fair to all without giving undue advantage to one party over another. This is the only way you can guarantee the credibility of the process you supervise.”
The new commission has started strategising for a successful poll. A source close to the commission said: “We are already collating the voters’ register sourced from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). There is no way the state electoral commission can conduct credible election without having appropriate voters’ register. You will agree with me that since the last registration when INEC gave us the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), some have not been released. We still have some outstanding 400,000 left with the electoral commission. These issues have to be addressed if we must conduct a credible election.”
Controversy over delayed poll
The last local government election in Lagos was in 2011. The councils were dissolved in November 2014. Since then, the administrations of the 57 local governments and the Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) have been under Executive Secretaries appointed by the state governor. The failure of the state goverment to conduct a fresh council election in the past two years has drawn criticisms from the opposition.
The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been urging the government to conduct the polls in the last two years, saying that the delay is a deliberate ploy to deny the people of Lagos State the right to choose their representatives, to manage their affairs at the local government level. The party said it was a violation of the constitution for the state government not to conduct the poll to fill the vacant council positions within 100 days of the dissolution of the last council executives in 2014.
But, the All Progressives Congress (APC) Publicity Secretary, Mr Joe Igbokwe, disagreed, saying the constitution allows the state governor to appoint caretaker committees to run the affairs of the councils pending the election of chairmen and councillors.
The APC image maker insists that the PDP cannot stampede the state government into holding local government elections. He said: “We have been conducting local government elections consistently in Lagos. We cannot conduct local government elections at the prompting of the PDP. They are not in government; they are like spectators. In a football field, actors know who they are, spectators watch, clap and dance. So, they should just be onlookers. We decide what happens. There is nowhere in the constitution that says the governor should conduct election on a particular date.
However, the Lagos PDP Chairman, Hon. Moshood Salvador, believes that the APC is deliberately delaying the council poll because it is afraid of defeat. He said: “It is someone at the top that is always afraid of coming down. Despite being in opposition, the PDP still managed to win seven House of Representatives seats and seven House of Assembly seats. The APC is dilly-dallying on the council elections in order to fix the loopholes observed in the last general elections and consolidate its grip ahead of the future elections.”
But, Igbokwe boasted that the ruling party would defeat the PDP anytime the election is conducted, saying as far as he is concerned, there is no opposition in Lagos.
An APC chieftain in Lagos West Senatorial District, Alhaji Ibrahim Oloruntoba, said the delay in conducting the poll is in the interest of all parties. He said: “LASIEC is making efforts to create awareness and provide a level-playing field for all contestants, which I believe, is critical to the success of the exercise. Owing to the kind of politics we play in this country, some people, especially those in opposition, have misinterpreted the good intention of the state government.”
Oloruntoba said LASIEC is taking its time to put the necessary logistic in place to conduct a free and fair election. Even though we are anxious for the election to hold, people should relax and support the electoral body in its effort to conduct a credible council poll.”
Parties’ preparation
Observers believe the election will be a straight fight between the ruling APC and the PDP, going by the outcome of the last general elections. Both parties have intensified efforts to ensure they come tops when the election holds. The PDP, which had been accusing the APC of trying to hold on to power, is embroiled in protracted internal crisis. The challenge before the PDP is to hold successful congress, to pick new leaders, as well as candidates for the election. The contest will put to test the success recorded by the party in the last general elections; whether it was real or accidental.
Within the APC, on the other hand, subtle campaigns have been going on in different localities; posters of aspirants for both the chairmanship and councillorship positions have flooded major streets of the metropolis. Consultative meetings have also been holding among the various stakeholders.
The PDP Vice Chairman, Chief Ola Apena, said despite the shoddy preparations for the election by the ruling party that his party is battle-ready for the contest. He said the PDP would not boycott the election, because such action in the past was counter-productive. Apena described the former ruling party at the centre as the most credible party for the country, because the ruling APC has deceived the people and many are yearning for the PDP to take over power in next election.
He said: “Though no date has been fixed for the election, Ambode can wake up one morning and give instruction to LASIEC to prepare for the local government poll within 30 days; though the law prescribed a minimum period of 90 days notification. Once a bill for the amendment of that law is sent to Mudashiru Obasa (Speaker) in the House of Assembly within a day, the bill would pass first, second and third reading; then it becomes a law the following day. So, we don’t want to be taken unawares.”
On his part, the APC Chairman, Chief Henry Ajomale, said his party is prepared for the poll any time the government gives the go-ahead for it. He said: “We are prepared, even if the election is to hold tomorrow. Even though the APC is the ruling party, we are not relenting; we are still making efforts to consolidate on our popularity and acceptability by the good people of Lagos State.”
Ajomale said it would be naive of the PDP to base its popularity on the few assembly seats it won in the last general elections. He added: “We knew what played out in that election. Former President Goodluck Jonathan relocated to Lagos in the build-up to the general election. He abandoned Abuja, the seat of government, just because he wanted to win Lagos. I understand he brought about $700 million to prosecute election in Lagos. Besides, Ifeanyi Ubah, a benefactor of the Jonathan administration bankrolled campaign expenses of the PDP in Lagos. We are waiting to see if Jonathan and Ubah would still provide the financial war chest to Lagos PDP, as they did in the last general elections. I think it is wishful thinking for the PDP to say the party is popular enough to win the forthcoming council poll. The APC will put them where they rightly belong.”
Salvador has reiterated the determination of his party not only to win the coming council elections, but also to chase the APC away from Alausa. He said: “We are well prepared for the local government election. If they decide to hold it tomorrow, we won’t be taken unawares. It is the APC that is afraid of losing and that is why they are foot-dragging on the conduct of the council poll.”
The PDP chieftain said the performance of the PDP in Lagos in last year’s general elections was not a fluke. He added: “It has nothing to do with the money spent by Jonathan to win presidential election in the state. It is wrong for the APC to conclude that the millions of dollars Jonathan brought to Lagos that was responsible for the PDP’s impressive performance.
“We worked hard to win election in areas we won. Our candidates won on merit. We prevailed and convinced the electorate on the programmes of our party and the integrity of our candidates. People are no longer interested in money or gift offered by the contestants. Money is no longer the determinant factor; what matters is the antecedents or the integrity of the candidates.
“The people of Lagos State are tired of the APC and they decided to have a change by voting for PDP candidates. So far, our elected candidates have not disappointed them, because they are keeping to the developmental programmes promised the electorate in their constituencies. The same strategy we are going to use for the local council election. We have started mobilising from house-to-house to create awareness about the importance of the election.”
Explaining why aspirants on PDP platform are yet to display posters, Salvador said: “What we need now is regular consultation between the aspirants and the electorate; this is the time for the aspirants to work underground and showcase their programmes to the members of the community. Only few of our aspirants have put up posters, because LASIEC has not released the time-table for the election. It will be a futile effort putting up posters and banners for the election you are not sure of when it will hold.”
To the Assistant APC Publicity Secretary, Mr Abiodun Salami, the party’s victory in the council poll is not negotiable. He has no doubts that his party would retain its hold on the state because, according to him, the APC is a grassroots party.
He said: “As a party, we are prepared. We have been mobilising our people as it is our responsibility to do, as directed by LASIEC. It is the regulatory agency for the council election in Lagos State. We are waiting for their directives. We are preparing, just like the Boys’ Scouts, to win the election genuinely in Lagos, as we have always done.”
On the APC’s strategy for victory, he said: “We want to keep that to our chest as a party. You do not expect us to publicise our preparation and our strategies. We do not want our opponents to take advantage of us. However, we are mobilising our members and our co-ordinators.”
He was also not perturbed by the level of success recorded by the PDP in the state during the last general elections, as he attributed such victory to the handiwork of those he termed “enemies within”. But he stressed that the issue has been resolved and that the APC would be going to the local government poll as a one united family.
