Lagos LG Elections: PDP, APP reject results, allege manipulation

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the Action Peoples Party (APP) in Lagos State have rejected the outcomes of Saturday’s Local Government elections in the state, saying the outcomes did not reflect the will of residents. Officials of both parties spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday.

According to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all 57 chairmanship seats and 375 out of 376 councillorship seats in the council election held on Saturday.

Reacting to the results, Chief Sunday Olaifa, the PDP Deputy Chairman (Lagos West), told NAN that the results of the election were manipulated to favor APC, saying the ruling party did not win as claimed. Olaifa said: “The PDP in Lagos State rejects in totality the outcome of the July 12 council elections in the state. It is nothing but a mockery of democracy, given the manipulations and scenes of inducement of voters that we saw.

“For a party that has been in power for over 20 years under various names to depend on rigging before winning a local government election shows that the party is already rejected. APC didn’t win that election. The election didn’t hold in many polling units, and results were written.

“For instance, at Ajao Estate of Isolo LCDAs, out of 36 polling units, till the close of the election, LASIEC officers were not in about 22 polling units. This happened in a few other areas.” Olaifa noted that the process leading up to the election was flawed, with many candidates not cleared, and said that the election fell short of all known democratic standards.

The PDP chieftain said that the ruling party would be rejected in the 2027 general elections, given the “true outcome” of the council polls.

Similarly, Mrs. Abiola Adeyemi, the APP Chairman, described LASIEC’s disenfranchisement of some candidates properly nominated by their political parties as uncalled for. Adeyemi told NAN that the just-concluded election was not an improvement in any way on previous exercises, urging the commission to go back to the drawing board.

“This election is not free, fair, and credible by any standard. It is the worst of elections ever conducted in Lagos State. Many candidates were not screened, and their candidacy not validated by LASIEC for different flimsy reasons, even after those candidates were duly nominated by their political parties.

“How can an election where so many candidates were disqualified by the umpire for no just cause, and party logos missing on the ballot, be regarded as credible? We complained, but the commission turned a deaf ear to all appeals to accept our candidates.

“Our logo, the APP logo, was not even on the ballot paper in Badagry. LASIEC officers even came late to many polling units,” Adeyemi said. According to her, many stakeholders, especially the political parties, were disappointed in the conduct of the election.

NAN reports that LASIEC Chairman, Retired Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile, disclosed on Sunday that logistics issues caused the late arrival of electoral personnel and materials in some areas, which was quickly attended to.

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