16th April, 2017
The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission {LASIEC} says it will not make use of Card Reader machine in the conduct of the forthcoming Local Government elections in the state.
Chairman of the Commission, Justice Ayotunde Phillips (Rtd), who disclosed this at a meeting with political party stalwarts ahead of the election, said Card Reader machine would not be used because the law setting up the commission had no provision for the use of the machine for the conduct of its elections.
She, however, promised that the commission would have to amend its law after the forthcoming election to accommodate the use of electronic machines in future elections.
However, the commission has amended the notice of election it earlier issued on the conduct of elections into the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the State.
With the amendment, conduct of party primaries by political parties for aspirants for the Chairmanship, Vice Chairmanship, Councillorship seats of the Local Governments and Local Council Development Areas of the State is now expected to commence on Monday, 17th April, 2017 and end on Thursday, 25th May, 2017.
The decision of the commission to extend the period for the conduct of party primaries by one week was in response to an appeal made by leaders of political parties in the State during a meeting organised by the commission.
During the meeting attended by State Chairmen and Secretaries of political parties, the parties had requested the Commission to give them more time for the conduct of their primaries, a request the Commission promised to consider.
In a similar development, the commission has also released the guidelines for the conduct of the 2017 Local Government elections in the State.
The guidelines, spelt out the types of forms: LASIEC 001, LASIEC 002 and LASIEC 008 which political parties are expected to obtain for their candidates from the Commission between Tuesday, 18th April, and Friday, 26th May, 2017.
Also contained in the guidelines are the administrative charges to be paid by political parties on behalf of their candidates.
According to the guidelines, political parties are expected to pay N100, 000 on behalf of each Chairmanship aspirant, N75,000 for each Vice-chairmanship Candidate and N50,000.00 for each Councillorship aspirant and the money is expected to be paid into any commercial bank in favour of Lagos State Government with Revenue Code: 4130003 and Agency Code:4080002 while the teller and electronic receipt collected from the bank are to be presented to the Commission for the collection of the stipulated forms.
The guidelines also list copies of the documents each of the candidates is expected to attach to his/her completed form before submitting the form to the commission. The documents include curriculum vitae, birth certificate or sworn affidavit of age, party membership card, candidate’s voter registration card, evidence of educational qualification, Lagos State Residents Registration Agency {LASRRA} card and tax clearance certificate for three years.
According to the guidelines, a candidate for the position of chairman is required to be nominated by 20 registered voters in each of at least two thirds of the wards in his Local Government or Local Council Development Area while a Councillorship candidate is required to be nominated by 10 registered voters in his ward.
The guidelines also spelt out the code of conduct for political parties and their candidates for the electioneering campaigns.
In the guideline, political parties and their candidates are required to refrain from the use of abusive language, avoid of forms of bribery and inducement of voters, focus their campaigns on their party manifestos and programmes and avoid basing their campaigns on sectional, ethnic and religious sentiments or prejudice among others.
Failure to comply with the Guidelines and other relevant provisions of the law would attract appropriate sanctions as provided for in the LASIEC Law 2008 (as amended).
State Chairman and Secretaries of many of the political parties attended the meeting.
It would recalled that the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) recently announced Saturday, July 22nd 2017 as the date for the conduct of elections into the 20 Local Governments and 37 Local Council Development Areas of the State.