Barely 12 hours to the July 12 local government elections in Lagos State, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has come under fire for allegedly withholding polling unit agent tags from opposition political parties while granting early access to candidates of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
The African Action Congress (AAC), in a statement made available to SaharaReporters on Friday, accused LASIEC of deliberately attempting to sabotage the electoral process by frustrating opposition candidates and undermining their chances at the polls.
The statement, jointly signed by the AAC State Secretary, Jegede Kehinde, and the State Chairman, Ayoyinka Oni, warned that any attempt to rig the election or declare “unpopular candidates” as winners would be met with fierce resistance.
“We have keenly noticed from the commencement of the State local government election the abnormality and contravention of the electoral process by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) headed by Justice Omobolanle Abidemi Okikiolu-Ighile,” the AAC leaders stated.
“The process has not been far away from what we can ever call transparency. Our candidates have also been subjected to ridicule, stress, and time wasting as a result of the nuclear screening done by the State electoral umpire.”
AAC further accused the LASIEC Chairperson of deliberately disenfranchising its candidates, despite their full compliance with all electoral guidelines.
According to the party, many of their candidates had their documents rejected without valid reasons, often after several trips to the LASIEC office.
“We hereby state categorically that none of our candidates should be disqualified or have your lapses used to hurt them. We discovered invalidation displays by your office. Although the Chairman has stated severally that invalidation of documents does not affect candidates contesting or their results, it is still a pain for candidates who were willing to submit all documents but were rejected.”
The party listed several wards, such as Oworonshoki, Lagos Island East, Ikosi-Isheri, and Shitta-Surulere, where voters’ lists had reportedly not been displayed as of Friday, further raising fears of premeditated manipulation.
AAC warned that should LASIEC go ahead with plans to sideline their candidates and “declare unpopular candidates,” the affected areas would be rendered “ungovernable” until the rightful winners were reinstated.
“Over 90% of the APC are validated. We don’t know why you decided to undermine our candidates and their success at the polls,” the statement said.
“LASIEC and its leadership still have the opportunity to rewrite their names and convince us of the possibility of a free and fair election in the State. Anything short of this will be vehemently resisted.”
In a last-minute incident that further fuelled the outrage, SaharaReporters gathered from sources that LASIEC distributed tags early to APC agents while keeping opposition representatives waiting for hours.
“LAISEC does not to drop tags for other parties. They have given APC since morning. Or even yesterday,” a source privy to the incident said.
“This matter can’t be settled amicably. They have been doing that for a long time. One day to the election, there is no plan for the other parties. You don’t want to give us tag so that they can arrest us right? No wahala,” another source angrily remarked.
According to AAC officials, opposition representatives were told to report to LASIEC by 2:30pm on Friday to collect their polling agent tags, but were still kept waiting till past 4pm, with no clear communication from the commission.
“Imagine collecting polling unit tags a day to the election. Is that fair?”
The party also issued a stern warning to security agencies, urging them to maintain neutrality and not allow themselves to be used by the ruling party to intimidate opposition members.
“Security personnel must be fair to all political parties participating in this election. You must not make yourself available to be used. Your nonpartisanship and neutrality should be witnessed and evident in your conduct before, during, and after the election.”
“Anything short of fairness will not only be condemned but resisted by all means.”
The AAC concluded by reiterating its commitment to the democratic process and promised to resist all attempts at vote buying, ballot snatching, or fabrication of results.
“The AAC Party has campaigned with strength and courage through the short time given to us, and it will be unfair if anyone tries to steal the mandate of the people. They will face resistance like they have never seen before.”
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