A coalition of opposition political parties in Lagos State has strongly rejected the outcome of the recent Local Government Elections held on Saturday, calling for a total cancellation of the results.
The parties—Labour Party, Young Progressives Party, African Action Congress, Action People’s Congress, and Accord—labelled the exercise a fraudulent charade.
At a joint press conference in Agege, the party leaders decried the conduct of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, alleging that the process was riddled with irregularities, lack of transparency, and deliberate disenfranchisement of opposition candidates.
LP State Chairman, Pastor Dayo Ekong, whose address was delivered by her deputy Mr. Olasupo Ajayi, described the election as a “systematic, state-sponsored rape of democracy,” accusing LASIEC of orchestrating electoral fraud to favour the ruling party.
“We utterly reject the fraudulent results declared by LASIEC. The elections were a meticulously executed charade to impose the ruling party’s will,” Ekong said, adding that essential voting materials like ballot papers and result sheets were missing in many areas.
YPP representative and former IPAC State Chairman, Mr. Olusegun Mobolaji, alleged that over 100 candidates were disenfranchised due to LASIEC’s bureaucratic delays and omissions. He also said party logos were missing from ballots, polling units were relocated in secret, and election materials arrived late or not at all.
“It was not an election,” Mobolaji said. “Out of over 3,000 tags expected for our party agents, only 310 were issued, and even those were distributed just hours before the election. We were asked to make photocopies of tags late at night.”
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APP State Chairperson and IPAC Secretary, Mrs. Abiola Adeyemi, recounted narrowly escaping an attack by alleged APC thugs in Badagry for protesting the absence of her party’s logo on ballots. Accord State Chairman, Mr. Dele Oladeji, added that LASIEC acted as a “player” rather than an umpire, accusing the commission of refusing stakeholder oversight of ballot materials.
The coalition vowed to take legal action, promising to challenge the results in election tribunals and courts. “We have resolved to seek justice through constitutional means. LASIEC has lost credibility under the leadership of Justice Bola Ighile,” they declared.
In contrast, the APC, through its State Publicity Secretary Mr. Seye Oladejo, praised the electorate and maintained that the results reflected the will of Lagos residents. According to LASIEC, APC won all 57 chairmanship positions and 375 out of 376 councillorship seats.
Despite the official declaration of results, the opposition insists the election cannot stand. “We will not rest until the will of the people is restored,” said Pastor Ekong.
NAN
