Exercise Your Franchise On Saturday

In less than 48 hours’ time, the electorate in Lagos State will have another opportunity to elect those who will rule them at the local government level.

The local government election takes place on Saturday 22 October across the 57 council areas and candidates and their supporters have been campaigning to woo the electorate for their votes.

It is a crucial election that calls for massive participation by eligible voters. This point has been made in several quarters by party stalwarts, including the state governor, Babatunde Raji Fashola. This election is important in many respects, particularly due to the fact that local government is the closes to the grassroots and governance at that level impacts the people directly.

In this regard, it is pertinent for the people at the grassroots to go out and elect leaders that will address their needs in the next three years while in the saddle at the council level. The power to choose who will govern them is in their own hands and with their ballot, the electorate will on Saturday determine the chairmanship and councillorship candidates that will rule their affairs in the next three years.

We expect that the election will be conducted in a free, fair and credible atmosphere so that at the end of the exercise, the best candidates should win. It should not be a do or die affair as some politicians may want to turn the contest into.

It is gratifying that the state Police Commissioner, Yakubu Alkali, has held a meeting with stalwarts of political parties whose candidates are contesting the council election to extract assurances from them that they will conduct their campaigns in a peaceful manner. This was necessary as previous political campaigns and rallies have been marred by violence. Past elections had also been tainted by bloodshed and malpractices.

We want a break from this sordid past on Saturday across the state. Security agencies must be on the alert to prevent the type of violent fallout from the April general elections witnessed in parts of the North.