LAGOS — SOME opposition political parties in Lagos State, yesterday, called for outright cancellation of Saturday’s Local Government Elections in the state, describing the exercise as undemocratic and” a daylight robbery.”
The parties, including the Labour Party, LP, Young Progressives Party, YPP, African Action Congress, AAC, Action People’s Congress, APP, and the Accord Party, made the call at a joint news conference in Lagos.
Similarly, the Forum of Lagos State PDP Local Government Chairmen, yesterday, vowed to challenge the outcome of Saturday’s council elections in court, alleging subversion of public will.
The leaders of the various parties alleged that the election conducted by Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, was full of irregularities, while also disenfranchising many opposition candidates.
Speaking during the briefing, the LP chairman in Lagos State, Pastor Dayo Ekong, decried what she termed “orchestrated electoral fraud and brazen bias” in the council elections.
Ekong, whose address was read by her deputy, Mr Olasupo Ajayi, described the exercise as a systematic state-sponsored rape of democracy.
She said: “The just-concluded Local Government elections were not an exercise in democratic choice; they were a premeditated, meticulously executed charade designed solely to impose the ruling party’s will upon the people of Lagos.
“We witnessed, and documented, widespread irregularities orchestrated by LASIEC.
“We utterly reject the fraudulent results declared by LASIEC in the affected LGAs. We hold Justice Bola Ighile personally responsible for this travesty and the complete collapse of LASIEC’s credibility under her watch.
“Our resolve is unwavering. We are compiling exhaustive evidence of these atrocities. We will explore every legal and constitutional avenue available to challenge this electoral robbery.
“We will not rest until justice is served and the will of the people of Lagos is respected. The Labour Party will not allow this daylight robbery to stand unchallenged.”
Similarly, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji of the YPP, described the process that led to the polls as flawed.
Mobolaji said: “The process that led to this poll was full of irregularities and anomalies; even the timetable was contradictory, tedious, choky and unbearable for opposition parties. Some parties got nomination forms from LASIEC two days before the election because of some issues, how can we ascribe credibility to such an election?”
Also, the State APP Chairman and Secretary of IPAC, Mrs Abiola Adeyemi, said that she was nearly beaten by alleged APC thugs in Badagry for complaining over the removal of the APP logo from the ballots in Badagry.
Corroborating, Mr Dele Oladeji, the State Chairman of Accord, said that political parties contested against LASIEC and not among themselves.
Oladeji said: “LASIEC acted as election players, not as umpire. We contested against LASIEC. It was a systematic rigging orchestrated before election day.”
Lagos PDP faults exercise
On his part, the Forum Chairman and PDP leader in Oshodi-Isolo LGA, Chief Adegboyega Adegbesan, who spoke at a joint press conference, declared that the PDP would not recognise the “fraudulent election” or its “alleged winners,” describing the process as deeply compromised and undemocratic.
“What occurred on Saturday was no election. It was a charade and a criminal conspiracy against the people’s sovereign will.
“In PDP strongholds across the state, ballot box stuffing occurred on a massive scale. Pre-thumbprinted ballots were delivered in bags.
“In many areas, election materials arrived late or not at all, and documentation was deliberately incomplete to frustrate PDP supporters and reduce turnout,” Adegbesan said.
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