Lagos LG polls a charade — Youth Party

The Youth Party has condemned the conduct of the Lagos State Local Government elections held on Saturday, July 12, describing the polls as “shambolic” and “blatantly rigged” in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

In a statement issued on Sunday and signed by Francisco Doregos, Chair of the Youth Party’s Lagos Chapter, the party expressed appreciation to its supporters across the state while accusing the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) of orchestrating electoral malpractice and voter suppression.

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“Expectedly, the Lagos State Local Government Elections were shambolic and blatantly rigged against our candidates with reckless and shameless abandon,” the party declared.

According to the statement, LASIEC was compromised from inception, having appointed “openly competitive APC politicians” as commissioners, undermining the integrity of the electoral process.

The party also alleged several breaches of electoral law, including the failure to give proper notice for the polls, omission of voter register displays, and misuse of security institutions like the Department of State Services (DSS) to intimidate its candidates under the guise of profiling.

On Election Day, the Youth Party accused LASIEC of enabling what it termed official rigging by allowing non-voters to cast ballots and failing to deploy technological safeguards like card readers and the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS).

“In Ward B of Lagos Island Local Government, ballot stuffing and multiple thumb-printing were rampant.

*In Eti Osa, voting materials were either not delivered or arrived late,” the party stated, adding that actual voter turnout was below 5%, contrary to LASIEC’s reported 20–30%.

Despite the alleged irregularities, the Youth Party claimed it outperformed other opposition parties, including the PDP, AA, and ZLP, in key areas and remained the “preferred choice” of the electorate.

The party, which revealed that it is reviewing its options, promised to make a “considered decision” on how to challenge the results.

“We were obviously the preferred party without rigging,” the statement concluded.