Lagos LG poll: Tinubu, Fashola, Ambode shun exercise

National Leader, All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu; immediate past governor of Lagos State, Mr. Akinwumi Ambode and Minister of Works and Housing, Mr. Babatunde Raji Fashola, on Saturday were reportedly not present at their various polling booths to cast their votes in the local government poll, even as the exercise which held across the state was marred by low turnout of voters, among others.

The state governor, Mr. Babajide Olusola Sanwo-Olu and his wife, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, however, exercised their voting right around 11am at Ward 09, Polling Unit 019 in Ikoyi, in Eti- Osa Local Government Area of the state, while the deputy governor, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, voted at his own Polling Unit 02, Ward D Oke Balogun, in Epe. 

The election, which was slated to commence at 8am and end at 3pm, did not start on time due to late arrival of officials of Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) in charge of the exercise in many of the polling units visited by our correspondents and also as a result of eligible voters who turned up earlier had to go back home, with many of them not returning thereafter.

Some of the citizens, who spoke with Tribune Online, expressed lack of interest in the exercise, which held in all the 20 Local Government (LGs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state.

Polling officers put in charge of polling booth at Sunday Adigun in Alausa area of Ikeja where APC National Leader, Asiwaju Tinubu, used to vote were just arriving the venue at 9:30am, while very few voters were seen seated, awaiting their arrival.

Few meters away from there and precisely at the entrance spot of Shoprite, Ikeja, an electoral official was already seated with all the voting materials made available, but no voter was sighted around him.

Late arrival of electoral officials, poor turnout of voters, malfunctioning of card readers, delayed the commencement of the poll in places visited by our correspondents in Yaba, Somolu, Egbeda/Akowonjo Ifako-Ijaye, Ijaiye- Ojokoro, among others, with voting commencing as late as 12noon in some areas.

At Ward F in Shomolu Local Government, besides recording low voters turnout and late arrival of electoral officials, the card reader deployed to the venue was found malfunctioning, leading to late commencement of voting.

Our correspondent gathered that officials arrived at the polling unit at exactly 10:26am, while few voters found around the polling unit could still not vote as at 12:05pm due to malfunctioning of card reader.

However, the polling officials said they had gone for another card. 

Speaking, founding member of a social network connecting voters, under the aegis of Wardchat, Mr. Femi Oguntebi, said there was low turnout of voters in the poll in Shomolu Local Government elections, declaring that the turnout was extremely low compared to general elections, just as he also cited very low party participation as part of the problems. 

He called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (lNEC) to take over conduct of local government elections across the country, saying such task should form part of the Electoral Act. 

There was also voter aparthy in various polling unts around Bammeke and Egbeda/Akowonjo axis in the state as some of the poling booths were empty with no voters in sight as at 12noon, except the LASIEC officials and few police operatives who were sighted.

At the Polling Unit 038 at Bammeke, the transparent ballot box on display showed about fifteen (15) votes with no voter in sight just as the electoral officials were idly sitting down.

It was the same story at the Polling Unit 037 in front of the Palace of Baale Bammeke where only four voters were on the queue to cast their votes.

Many of those spoken to emphatically expressed disappointment at the government following the hardship in the land.

A tomatoes seller at Bammeke, who simply gave her name as Mummy Fola, said the reason for the low turnout of voters was not far from the pains and anguish brought upon the masses by the ruling party.

According to her, “What is the essence of going under the sun to queue to vote for those who do not have the interest of the masses at heart. 

“Once they use us to climb the ladder to their various positions, they discard us like a pack of cards.

I know many people who cannot boast of how to feed their children even today, how do you expect such people to go and vote for these ungrateful souls.”

A particular man met at the Polling Unit 037, who spoke to the Sunday Tribune in confidence, displayed his voter’s card but vowed not to cast any vote because of the frustration in the country.

The man particularly cited the poor road infrastructure around the Bammeke axis which he said had added to the plights of transporters and other businesses for years.

“Each time of elections, people around here always trooped out in large numbers to vote after which the candidates dumped them as against their electioneering manifestos. How long are they going to continue to cajole us?” he queried.

Going round the Bammeke axis, shop owners partially opened while others sat in front of their shops and houses showing no interest in the election.

At the various polling booths in the area, different party agents were seen displaying their tags with no voters seen around.

Amidst the uncertainty, women selling alcoholic drinks in plastic and sachets were busy making their brisk business as many loyalists of the various parties took over the drinking joints, a situation which many people described as a time bomb that may trigger crisis in the face of any argument at any of the voting centers around.

Also apathy trailed the poll exercise in Ifako- Ijaiye LG and Ijaiye-Ojokoro LCDA as our correspondent who monitored the areas observed that residents obeyed the movement restriction order by the state government, but actually shunned voting in the council election which held on Saturday across the state.

Those who spoke, on condition of anonymity with our correspondent, said they did not believe in the local government administration not only in Lagos State but across the federation, declaring that the government which is constitutionally described to be the nearest to the people in reality looks like not existing at all.

According to them, going out to exercise their voting right in such an election amounts to a waste of time to them and therefore of no need.

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In most of the polling units visited at Ope Ewe Street (003 and 004), Ogedengbe Street, Oluyide Street Jankara, Clem Road, among others, only LAISEC officials and party agents were sighted, while some other election officials were even seen sleeping at the time of visiting.

At Ope Ewe polling unit 33, for example, only about 11 voters voted so far as at 12.05pm when our correspondent visited.

Speaking with newsmen after casting his vote alongside his wife, Lagos State governor, Mr. Sanwo-Olu, who also acknowledged the low voter turnout, said there was need to continue to improve on advocacy to the residents for them to come out and exercise their franchise, assuming that the state government would continue to improve on such.

 

The governor, who disclosed that there was late arrival of materials at the four polling units he had visited, posited that the election offered Lagosians the opportunity to exercise their franchise by voting their preferred candidates.

“I have noticed about four polling booths. I would not say they were crowded polling booths but all went on peacefully. Reports I have gotten so far in the last two hours are that things are going as expected. 

“There could be delay in terms of arrival of materials but we thank God we have started and I hope what we have seen here is what we will see in other polling units; that people will turn out and express themselves in the ongoing local government and councillors election in Lagos State. We are expecting that everything will go on well, free and fair.

“This is only time we can express ourselves freely. It’s a question of the encouragement and advocacy that we need to continue to give to our citizens. All the logistics have been provided, it’s just for our people to come out and exercise their franchise. We will continue to improve on the advocacy,” the governor said.

Lagos State deputy governor, Dr. Hamzat, called on the citizens to always be part of the electoral process by making sure that they voted the right people into political offices at every election.

This was just as he posited that it would not be right for people to complain about those that governed them when they failed to come out and vote in candidates of their choice into various political posts during elections.

“Come out and vote. Don’t stay back and start complaining, be part of the process. If you are not part of the processes, you don’t have the moral right to complain, come out and vote for the people you want,” the deputy governor said.

While commending the peaceful conduct of the election, Hamzat, who voted at exactly 10.20am, advised the people to shun any form of violence and other anti-social behaviours as there was no need for such.

The deputy governor called on prospective winners in the elections to keep to their campaign promises and work for the development of the State, even as he assured that those contesting on the platform of APC would live up to the promises they had made to the people during the campaign by doing a periodic review of their performances.

“The party expects the candidates to keep to the guidelines of the party, as there is a system of evaluation in place,” he said.

“Though local governments are different and each of them will be focusing on different things, they must focus on certain things and they will be evaluated on a quarterly basis,” he added.

Member, Lagos State House of Assembly, Hon. Gbolahan Yishawu representing Eti-Osa Constituency II, enjoined residents in the state to always come out and exercise their franchise, saying grassroots election is the most critical in electioneering.

The lawmaker, who is the chairman, House Committee on Budget and Economic Planning, made the call shortly after exercising his voting rugyht at St. Geogies Primary School, Ikoyi-Obalende LCDA, saying people needed more enlightenment in exercising their right to vote.

This was just as he expressed satisfaction with the voting process, saying the most important thing was to have free, fair and credible polls.

“The most important thing is to have free, fair and transparent process. You can see that the process is credible, that is what we have all around. We urge everybody to exercise their right by voting because this is the grassroots election,” he said.

Also speaking, incumbent Chairman, Yaba Local Council Development Area (LCDA), Hon. Kayode Omiyale, attributed the low turnout of voters at the council poll to lack of knowledge of the functions of the third tier of government, describing the development as unfortunate.

Omiyale, who spoke with the Sunday Tribune after casting his vote, emphasized the need for people to be acquainted with the fact that the local government is the sole and heart of a nation, amongst other tiers. 

The council boss explained that the local government is the heart of governance because of its responsibility in taking care of the masses as there is no nation without its masses, cautioning that failure of people to come and vote the right candidates could lead to a situation where miscreants would take over power at the local level.

“It is rather unfortunate. Although in some areas, we have large turnout while we have low turnout in other areas as rightly observed. 

“But, why we are having low turnout where we have them is because the people are not conversant with the functions of local government. 

“The people need to know that out of the three tiers of government, the local government is the sole of any nation.

“It is the heart of any nation because it is the government that takes care of the masses and there is no nation without its own masses. 

“The local government job is not supposed to be the jobs of riffraff as they popularly called them. 

“And if people don’t come out to exercise their voting right, we will have miscreants at the local level,” he said.

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