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Tag: Lagos council polls

  • Lagos council polls : Eredo, Ikotun/Igando LCDAs record low voter turnout

    Lagos council polls : Eredo, Ikotun/Igando LCDAs record low voter turnout

    Early morning rain on Saturday prevented many voters from coming out to vote in the Lagos council polls in Eredo and Ikotun/Igando Local Council Development Areas.

    Correspondents of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), who monitored the election, report that there was a low turnout of voters at some polling units.

    NAN also observed that there was no presence of security personnel at Ward A Units 2, 7, 8, 10, 16, 18 and 19 in Ilara community as at 9.30 a.m.

    However, security men mounted a barricade at the main junction as the Police engaged in stop and search.

    An electoral officer in the area attributed the low turnout to the rain, adding that voters may still come out as soon as the rain subsided.

    At Ward 037 in Ikotun/Igando LCDA, a few voters, majority of them old people, were at many of the polling units.

    Mrs Yemisi Dosunmu, a 57-year- old caterer, told NAN that the apathy by youths was not good for our democracy.

    She said it was important for the younger generation to understand the importance of voting.

    “I came all the way from Egbe to vote here because this is where I registered when I was living here.

    “That is to show you how important this election is to me; our voting age children (youths)  need to understand that they have the power to elect leaders of their choice.

    “As citizens, it is an obligation and our vote is the only power we have against bad governance, the power lies with us; we need to educate our youths,’’ she said.

    Also, a 43-year-old engineer, Dauda Ojo, told NAN that the poor turnout showed that people lacked the understanding of their voting power.

    “Since I started voting, this turnout is one of the poorest, we cannot achieve much if we keep showing apathy towards the election of office holders,’’ he said.

    NAN also reports that some food vendors at Eredo LCDA took advantage of their proximity to the polling units to make brisk business.

    Meanwhile, Mr Olusoda Adedeji, the Electoral Officer, Eredo LCDA, has assured that the outcome of the election would be credible in spite of the initial low turnout of voters due to the rainfall.

    Adedeji said adequate security and logistics had been put in place in the five wards and 85 units in the area to ensure a hitch-free election with more than 185 personnel deployed for the exercise. 

  • 30,000 cops for Lagos council polls

    30,000 cops for Lagos council polls

    … Hamburger’s suspected killers arrested

    The Lagos State police command said on Tuesday that at least 30,000 policemen would be deployed for Saturday’s local government election in the state.

    The state Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, stated this during a press briefing, adding that security agencies are well prepared for the polls.

    According to the commissioner, the police and sister agencies have been meeting to ensure that the election was violence free.

    He said an inter-agency committee had been put in place and operational plan drawn with special attention to flash points.

    Owoseni said: “The command can say that security agencies are fully prepared for the local council election. We have scheduled training/workshop for participating agencies. We have also fashioned out an interactive session with representatives of political parties and candidates for the election.

    “We are looking at deploying 30,000 personnel to cover the election. This figure would be augmented by personnel from sister agencies.

    “We are using this forum to warn all those, who plan to cause trouble or truncate the exercise that they won’t be given any chance. Violence would not be tolerated. We are poised to ensure that the election and electioneering are devoid of violence.

    “We would discharge our responsibilities and obligations in consonance with the Lagos State Electoral Laws. All electorates, candidates and officials are assured of their safety and security. Anyone who dares to test the ability of security forces will have his/herself to blame because perpetrators of violence would face the full wrath of the law.

    “Political parties are advised to discharge their obligations under the Electoral Laws with regards to necessary voter education. If all involved play their rules well, the election would be hitch-free.”

    The police commissioner also disclosed that two suspected killers of the Chairman of Tricyclist Association, Rasak Bello aka Hamburger, are currently in police custody and would be charged to court.

    Samson Agbetoye alias Golden and Babatunde Saka “Hanger” reportedly surrendered themselves to the police on June 20.

    He recalled that the police had promised to ensure justice prevailed in the murder case, noting that they were not unaware of the allegations and counter allegations Hamburger’s murder generated.

    “When the incident occurred, the command indicated that it would not be swept under the carpet. Investigation has been on since then and pursued with all sense of seriousness. The principal suspect, Samson Agbetoye alias Golden and one Babatunde Saka have been in our custody. They have volunteered useful statement to the police and will soon be arraigned in court for prosecution,” Owoseni added.

     

  • LAGOS COUNCIL POLLS

    Candidates for elective posts into the 57 Local Governments/Local Council Development Areas yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to promote better understanding between the commission and the political parties.

    The MoU is also intended to provide a clear understanding of the roles of political parties in the resolution of both the pre and post-election disputes.

    Under it, political parties and their candidates are expected to cooperate with law enforcement agents to ensure safety and security of election materials, election officials, party agents and the electorate on the day of the election.

    It also precludes political parties from fraudulently procuring election results and votes and forcibly occupying polling stations and collation centres, and manipulation of ballot boxes or result sheets.

    Political parties are also required to refrain from the destruction of electoral materials or any property belonging to the commission or encouraging their supporters to cast more than one vote or encouraging supporters to vote in the name of another person.

    The MoU refrains political parties and their candidates from buying votes or offering bribe,  gift, reward, gratification or any other monetary or material consideration to voters or electoral officials in contravention of section 68(1)and (2) 69(a)-c and 70 (1) (a-h)LASIEC Law 2008 as amended.

    Political parties and their candidates are barred from canvassing for votes within the vicinity of a polling station on election day.

    On the other hand, the Commission is required to provide a level playing ground for all political parties and their candidates for the elections.

  • Lagos LG poll: Sheriff-led faction says PDP will excel

    Lagos LG poll: Sheriff-led faction says PDP will excel

    The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Mr Segun Adewale, has expressed confidence that the party will do well in July 22 council poll.

    Adewale of Sen. Ali Modu Sheriff-led PDP, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.

    He acknowledged that internal problems within the party had caused some setbacks, but said the party would rise above its challenges for a strong showing.

    “The PDP is a strong party in the state. Agreed there are some problems here and there caused by some people for their personal interests, but the party will overcome all that and do well at the poll,” he said.

    Adewale said he had made overtures to the faction led by Moshood Salvador on the need to have a united party but that his efforts were not appreciated.

    He said the disagreement would not deter his faction from preparing well for the poll even as he said the door of peace was still open to the Salvador camp.

    Adewale said his faction conducted its primary in all the 20 local government area and 37 local council development areas on Friday and that it was largely peaceful.

    “We had our primary election on Friday and I can tell you that it was largely peaceful and successful.

    “Apart from Agege, Ikeja and Amuwo where we recorded some problems, the primaries went well and candidates emerged for the chairmanship and councillorship seats.

    “The successful conduct of our primary is a reflection of our determination and resolve to do well at the poll despite the odds.” he said.

    Adewale condemned the alleged holding of primary by some groups under the name of PDP, saying it was illegal.

    He said he was the authentic chairman of the state based on the Appeal Court judgement affirming Sherrif as national chairman, adding that any other primary outside his own was illegal.

    “I am the authentic Chairman of PDP in Lagos. If any group is holding any primary in the state under the name of the party, it is null and void as it is illegal,” he said.

    Meanwhile, the Salvador faction of Sen Ahmed Makarfi Caretaker Committee has directed its aspirants to seek any other political platform apart from the PDP to contest the forthcoming poll.

    The Publicity Secretary of the faction, Mr Taofik Gani, told NAN that the faction took the decision as reconciliation with Adewale faction was not yielding results.

    “Yes, we have directed our aspirants to seek any political parties of their choice for the election.

    “They are using parties temporarily for the election pending the resolution of Makarfi /Sheriff at the Supreme Court,” Gani said.

    Gani, however, said the faction would monitor and guide their aspirants while they contest on the platform of different political parties.

    NAN reports that LASIEC has fixed July 22 as date of the council poll and July 29 for run-off. (NAN)

  • Warming up for Lagos council polls

    Warming up for Lagos council polls

    The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has finally has given the nod for parties to start warming up for local government elections. The polls, scheduled to take place on July 22, will give the parties an opportunity for a popularity test. Deputy Political Editor RAYMOND MORDI examines the preparations of the various parties and their winning strategies.

    AFTER a long wait, preparations for local government elections in Lagos State are finally underway. For over two years, it was a waiting game for aspirants, particularly in the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP). Lagos has 20 Local Government Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs). Since the 57 councils were dissolved in November 2014, their administration has been under Executive Secretaries appointed by the governor. The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) had attributed the delay in conducting the polls to some logistics problems, including the updating of the voters’ register and the creation of additional polling units, which are the responsibilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
    The 1999 Constitution makes it mandatory for the third tier of government to be occupied by elected officials. As a result, the failure of the state government to conduct elections to fill the vacant positions has drawn criticisms from the opposition over the years. In the last two years particularly, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has been urging the government to conduct the polls, 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 that 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.
    With the elections now fixed for July 22, all the political parties have commenced preparations for the contest. The election is likely to be a straight fight between the APC and the PDP, going by the outcome of the last general elections. Both parties have intensified efforts to ensure dominance during the contest. Given that it has governed the state since the return to civil rule in 1999, the APC obviously has the upper hand.
    But, the APC is not leaving anything to chance. It has intensified subtle campaigns 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 state chapter of the APC has rolled out its guidelines for primaries; with the collection and submission of forms expected to take place between Thursday, April 13 and Sunday April 23. Screening would take place between April 24 and 29, while appeals are expected between Tuesday May 2 and Wednesday May 3. The chapter has also fixed the primaries for councillorship and chairmanship positions for May 6 and May 13 respectively.
    A chieftain of the APC in one of the areas where the party was defeated in 2015, Mr. Omoniyi Olulade, said the party has already put that defeat behind it, by working assiduously to reverse that trend in the forthcoming council polls and the 2019 general elections.
    Olulade, an aspiring chairmanship candidate in Amuwo-Odofin in the coming election, said the APC has identified reasons responsible for the loss and has plugged the loopholes. He said: “It was not that the APC lost popularity; the battle was lost within.”
    Olulade’s aspiration and those of other APC aspirants in the area may have been boosted by the developmental programmes being initiated by the Ambode administration all over the state.
    Women within the party are also speaking vociferously, to be accorded more recognition, by being given more slots to contest for elective positions. The APC Women Leader in Ikosi-Ejinrin LCDA, Mrs. Olufunke Ogun, made the appeal at a summit organized as part of the preparations for the election. At the summit, which took place in Epe under the theme, The Voice of Women is the Voice of God, Ogun commended Governor Akinwunmi Ambode for allotting about 30 per cent positions to women in his government, but said more could still be done for women because of their “strategic roles and population”.
    She said at the event which was attended by hundreds of women leaders in the council area that women should not be restricted to the position of followership in politics, but should be engaged. The Women Leader said: “If our men give us opportunity to rule the nation, we can do it. We can do it, we have the ability, strategies and population to make things work and bring the `real change’ to the people. We must be given ample opportunities in the forthcoming council elections.”
    Ogun said women should be given the opportunities to serve as chairmen, vice chairmen, councillors and others in the council areas. She admonished women to come out and vie for elective positions, adding that the forum was organised to mobilise the women to come out and contest for positions during the election.
    She added: “We should not take a back seat; we should not allow selfish people to lead. We need to prepare for the election now that the guidelines have been released; we should vote right and refuse to be bought over. Let us look for people with character and fear of God.”
    Despite its shoddy preparations for the election, the PDP wants to take its chances. Thus, it is not considering boycotting the election, as it has done sometimes in the past.
    The Chairman of the faction loyal to the Makarfi-led National Caretaker Committee, Moshood Salvador, said the party is well prepared for the election. His words: “A lot of people are eager to see those manning the councils in caretaker capacity to go. For this reason, the turn out during the election will be great. In the past, some of our members who wanted to contest for council posts were not allowed to run. They tried to use undemocratic means to block them.
    “But, today, I asked the LASIEC chairman whether it is true that the Presiding Officer can send somebody away during election. His response was that Presiding Officers do not have such powers. He denied some of the allegations leveled against LASIEC.
    “If that clarification had not been made, we will not be able to have confidence in LASIEC during election. But, now, that the areas of conflict have been cleared; we are hopeful that a free and fair election will be conducted. A level-playing ground will be made available to the contestants.
    “We are not afraid of fight; we are prepared to go into the competition. All we are saying is that a level-playing ground should be provided, where people will exercise their right to elect those who will represent them.”
    The Lagos State chapter of the PDP had been looking forward to the election for two years. But, the party appears to have been caught pants down. This is not only because of the crisis rocking it at the national and state levels, but also owing to the division within its ranks as a result of the defections of the six lawmakers in the State House of Assembly elected on its platform to the APC. The party was eager for the election, to prove that the relative success it recorded during the 2015 general elections in the state was not a fluke. It was unprecedented in the political history of the state for an opposition party to record the kind of success it achieved in that election.
    But, the party’s hope of consolidating on the successes of 2015 has been dashed, with the defection of the six out of the eight lawmakers in the House of Assembly. Members of the PDP have continued to insinuate that one of the reasons why the ruling party had refused to organise the polls on time is because it wants to plug the loopholes that led to its defeat in some constituencies during the National and State assemblies polls in 2015.
    They say it is the negotiation over the lawmakers’ defection that had delayed the fixing of the date for the election. With the defection now history, the morale of the opposition ahead of the election has been dampened and appears to have paved the way for another APC landslide victory.
    The crisis tearing the party apart at the national level is also not helping matters. The crisis has cast a long shadow at the Lagos chapter, by polarizing it. The challenge before the PDP is how to close ranks and prosecute the election as a united family.
    The Deputy National Chairman (South) of the All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA), Mr. Campbell Umenzekwe, said the party is already mobilizing its members in Lagos to participate in the election. APGA, which is a regional party based in the Southeast, may be calculating to reap votes in areas of the metropolis dominated by non-indigenes, particularly those from the Southeast.
    He said: “We are prepared for the election and we will participate. We are already mobilizing our people in Lagos State to participate in the election. We are very confident that the APGA will win some council election in Lagos.”
    Though the Chairman of LASIEC, Justice Ayotunde Philips, has assured concerned residents and political parties that the election would be free and fair, many observers are not comfortable with local council polls conducted by an electoral body constituted by the party in power. Many Nigerians do not have confidence in local government elections, because without exception, they are always won landslide by the party in power.
    An observer who does not want to be named puts it thus: “You can hardly find an opposition party winning a single local government. We should stop deceiving ourselves; as far as I am concerned, public funds is being wasted conducting council polls.”
    The idea of local government councils was born out of the need to bring government closer to the people, as a mechanism for engendering socio-economic development at the grassroots level. But, the poor performance of the third-tier of government is believed to be a consequence of state governments’ interference with the running of the councils.
    In spite of the shortcomings of local government elections, it gives politicians at the grassroots an opportunity to participate meaningfully in the political process. Coming about two years after the last general elections, the forthcoming council polls would give the parties a chance to do a mid-term assessment of their standing with the electorates and do the necessary adjustment before the 2019 elections.

  • Lagos council polls: APC women leaders want more slots

    Lagos council polls: APC women leaders want more slots

    Women leaders under the auspices of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Lagos State on Saturday urged the party to increase women representation in government particularly at the grassroots.

    Specifically, the women want more slots during the forthcoming local government elections.

    Mrs Olufunke Ogun, APC’s Women Leader in Ikosi-Ejinrin Local Council Development Area, made the appeal at the party’s women leaders forum in Epe.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the forum, organised in preparation for the council polls scheduled for July 22, was attended by hundreds of women leaders in the council area.

    Tagged: “The Voice of Women is the Voice of God”, the summit was held at the constituency office of Mr Segun Oludade, the lawmaker representing the area in the Lagos State House of Assembly.

    Ogun, who commended Gov. Akinwunmi Ambode for allotting about 30 per cent positions  to women in his government, said more could still be done for women because of their “strategic roles and population”.

    “Gov. Ambode has tried, but he can still increase the number of women in his government. I want to advise our governor to get women more involved in governance, not only in politicking.

    “Women should not be restricted to the position of followership in party politics alone, they must be engaged. If our men give us opportunity to rule the nation, we can do it,” she said.

    “We can do it, we have the ability, strategies and population to make things work and bring the `real change’ to the people. We must be given ample opportunities in the forthcoming council elections.”

    According to her, women should be given the opportunities to serve as chairmen, vice chairmen, councillors and others in the council areas.

    Ogun appealed to women folks to vie for elective positions in the forthcoming council election.

    She added: “We admonish women to come out and vie for elective positions in the forthcoming local government election in our state.

    “This forum is organised to advise, sensitise and re-orientate our women on the forthcoming local government poll, we should not take back seat, we should not allow selfish people to lead.

    “We need to prepare for the election now that the guidelines have been released, we should vote right and refuse to be bought over. Let us look for people with character and fear of God.”

    Ogun , who lauded Ambode’s giant strides in infrastructure development, security and economy, also urged women to support the government for more growth and development.

    Also speaking, Mrs Adewunmi Balogun, the Assistant Women Leader, harped on the involvement of women in governance.

    Balogun urged the government to do more to stamp out kidnapping in Epe and other parts of the state and also provide jobs for the people.

    Another leader from Ward E1 in the area, Mrs Riskat Idowu said: “Women took up great roles in politics but are given little opportunities in governance. We do most of the mobilisation.”

    Idowu urged the government to empower more women to give public administration a new lease of life.

    NAN reports that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has fixed July 22 for elections into the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas.