Kunle Adelabu
-Urges Lagosians to come out in large number to vote
A chieftain of the African Action Congress (AAC), Comrade Michael Olasoji, has described the sale of nomination forms to candidates and political parties by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) as wrong and unconstitutional.
Comrade Olasoji, who is the Chairman of the opposition party in Ikorodu Local Government, also stated that his party is not expecting a free and fair electoral process from the electoral umpire.
He spoke in a chat online with THE IMPACT:
“The forthcoming LG elections will be full of drama as usual and surprises, though we are not expecting the election to be free and fair, because as a party and IPAC as a body, we have raised a lot of issues to LASIEC, which have not been resolved till now even the appointment of the LASIEC chairperson is questionable.”
Olasoji furthered with his party’s list of allegations against LASIEC, “It is unconstitutional for LASIEC to sell forms to candidates or political parties at the rate of #50,000. The form should be free. We would continue to challenge this wrong decision legally. LASIEC is not created to generate revenue, LASIEC activities and expenses are budgeted for.
“Majority of Lagos residents no longer have confidence in local government election, because it has always been one sided and massively rigged by the political party in power.”
“Although, his party will not be fielding candidates for the Chairmanship and Councillorship positions in Ikorodu, whereas, AAC is presenting candidates in other councils in the state. Comrade Olasoji, said that the local government elections should only hold in the old 20 LGAs and not in the 37 LCDAs, in accordance with the Supreme Court ruling.
“The issue of elections into LCDAs is still there. Elections are supposed to hold only in the 20 Local Government Areas constitutionally recognized. Under this present government administration, there was a Supreme Court judgment regarding the autonomy of Local government, especially financial autonomy for them. This has not been taken into consideration by LASIEC and Lagos State Government.
“We are not expecting any magic or radical change in the coming election, but we will participate and give close monitoring to the electoral process from the beginning to the end, especially where we have candidates,” he said.
Comrade Olasoji urged Lagosians to fully participate in the elections by coming out in large numbers to vote for their choice candidates.
“We use this medium to encourage all voters in Lagos to come out for the LG election. They should not give up. They should all come out to vote for candidates of their choice into office. They should also defend their votes.
“Electorates, regardless of their ethnicity and location should not fall for intimidation, bullying and oppression.
“As a resident of Lagos and registered voters, go and carry out your civic rights. We have candidates in different positions as a party, go out and vote for us. We assure you that we will not disappoint you as a party, “ he pleaded.
