The local government election that held across Lagos State, on Saturday, has been described as a disgraceful exercise and a sham as the election was not free and fair as claimed but is an assault the nation’s fledgling democracy, having failed all ingredients of a credible election.
Lagos based socio-political activist and critic, Chief Adesunbo Onitiri, made this assertion, on Monday, while talking on the election which was declared in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) across the state.
According to him, “Lagosians failed to turn out for the elections as they already knew their votes would not count. So many Lagosians that phoned on a popular radio programme, on Thursday, few days before the elections, vowed never to come out for the elections as they all believed that the results of the election had already been determined a week before.”
The social critic noted that the election was generally peaceful mainly because most Lagosians boycotted the polls, adding that there was total election apathy as out of the over 25million resident voters, less than one per cent went out to vote.
Onitiri, who described the situation asa pitiable one, further alleged that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) “was not independent after all as a supposedly unbiased umpire did not do a good job.”
He also alleged that LASIEC showed open bias in the conduct of the election, adding that this is a serious indictment on the part of the commission.
“As at today, there is no election result transmitted on the website of LASIEC. One wonders what will play out in the general elections of 2023. This is a total failure of our electoral processes. With the feelers coming out of Lagos and Ogun States’ electoral commission, the ruling party will win all the chairmanship and councillorship seats 100 per cernt.
“Who does that? Definitely, this is surely no election. This is a big shame and very disgraceful,” Onitiri asserted, pointing out that “in spite of our advice to the governor of Lagos State that he should at least try to make the elections have a semblance of a credible poll, it was not free and fair and credible.
“One shudders to predict what might happen in 2023. The APC party may win all the states governorship, NASS and presidential elections in a landslide as opposed to what happened in 2015 when PDP handed over victory to APC before the conclusion of the polls,” he said.
Onitiri, however, commended the few Lagosians that came out for the elections for their peaceful conduct and the parties that participated in the elections for their show of maturity.
“The election does not deserve the blood of any Lagosian. By voting against the electronic transmission of election results in the new electoral bill by the National Assembly legislators, the APC party has shown themselves as enemies of democracy and the people,” he concluded.
He further advised all election umpires to always live to expectation in the discharge of their responsibilities and build up Nigerians’ confidence in the electoral processes in order to enhance the country’s democracy.
YOU SHOULD NOT MISS THESE HEADLINES FROM NIGERIAN TRIBUNE
Lagos council polls a sham, disgraceful
We Have Not Had Water Supply In Months ― Abeokuta Residents
In spite of the huge investment in the water sector by the government and international organisations, water scarcity has grown to become a perennial nightmare for residents of Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital. This report x-rays the lives and experiences of residents in getting clean, potable and affordable water amidst the surge of COVID-19 cases in the state. Lagos council polls a sham, disgraceful
and then