Expdonaloaded News; Lagos LG poll: Waiting for Ambode?

WHAT is delaying the con­duct of elections into the 20 local government areas and 37 local council develop­ment authorities (LCDA) in Lagos State? That is one question that is agitating the minds of stakeholders in the state following the inability of the Lagos State Indepen­dent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to conduct elec­tions in the councils almost one year after the expiration of the tenure of the last set of elected council officials.

The tenure of the last set of elected council officials ex­pired in October 2014. At the expiration of the tenure of the council officials last year, Lagos State government and LASIEC had blamed the In­dependent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for its inability to hold the council poll as at when due.
Speaking at a ministe­rial press briefing late last year, the then Commissioner for Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs, Mr. Ademorin Kuye had stated: “I cannot say when the elections will be conducted. You would agree with me that since the last registra­tion when INEC gave us the PVCs, the entire PVCs have not been totally released. We still have some outstandings left with the electoral com­mission.
“There is no way the state electoral commission can conduct any election without having the appropriate voter register for the state. And this register is still in the custody of INEC
“It has not been released to the state.The moment it is released to the Lagos State Government, we can start planning on when the local government election will be held,” he stated.
Similarly, chairman of LASIEC, Justice Fatai Adey­inka (retd), while appearing before the state House of Assembly, last year, to brief the house on preparations for the election, said his com­mission had not received the updated voters’ register from INEC.
According to LASIEC boss: “We don’t want to conduct the election with the voters register that we have because it does not contain the addresses of the elector­ate. So, if we decide to use an old register, we will be disenfranchising some voters from performing their rights.
“Also, there is the need to create additional polling booths to the ones we have on ground, which is also the responsibility of INEC. Until these constraints are resolved, we wont be able to conduct elections into the lo­cal governments. Definitely, election cannot hold this year (last year).”
Then, Deputy Speaker of the House, Taiwo Kolawole, who presided over the sitting said the House would not allow any vacuum in the administrations of councils in the state and directed the relevant committees to liase with the executive arm of government on the issue.
Consequently, the gov­ernor appointed executive secretaries to oversee the council pending the conduct of the council poll.
The executive secretar­ies, it was gathered, were supposed to spend only six months before the conduct of the election. It was therefore, taken for granted that imme­diately after the general elec­tions, the council poll would hold, as INEC would have updated the voters register.
However, almost one year after the executive sec­retaries were appointed and six months after the general election, neither LASIEC nor the state government is saying anything about the election.
Daily Sun checks revealed that the electoral body seems not have any plan to hold the election anytime soon.
The Lagos chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) and All Progres­sives Congress (APC), were engaged in a war of words at the weekend as strong indications emerged that elections into the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development authorities in Lagos State may not hold anytime soon.
The election ought to have been held in October 2014, when the tenure of the last elected councils officials elapsed.
But the Lagos State Elec­toral Commission (LASIEC) had said it was waiting for the Independent Na­tional Electoral Commission (INEC) to update the voters register.
However, six months after the last general elec­tions, Daily Sun checks revealed that LASIEC has no plan to conduct elec­tions into the councils at the moment.
A top LASIEC official, who pleaded anonym­ity told Daily Sun that the electoral is not thinking about the council polls at the moment.
When asked about the cause of the delay of the poll and when it could hold, the source said: “The question is beyond me to answer. No date has been fixed. It is beyond me.” The response of the LASIEC has fuelled speculations that the electoral body might be waiting for directives from the state government before kick-starting the process for the local government elec­tions.
The Lagos State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) is blaming the state governor, Mr Akinwun­mi Ambode and his party, the All Progressives Con­gress (APC) for the delay in the council poll.
The PDP state publicity secretary, Mr Taofik Gani told Daily Sun that APC do not want an election now be­cause it is afraid of losing in most part of the state, noting that the APC is still dazed by PDP’s performance in the state during the last general election.
“The appointment of executive secretaries is an aberration. As we speak, the governor cannot even tell Lagosians how long the ex­ecutive secretaries will stay.
“In view of the result of the last election, the APC know it will lose the elec­tion. What the governor is doing by delaying the elec­tion is to give them time to recuperate, from where they lost. It is unfair. It is undem­ocratic,” the PDP spokesman alleged.
The PDP had won a total of 13 legislative seats in the last general elections.
Gani added that:” It is unfathomable that a party that claims to be democratic is the one that is holding back democratic structures in Lagos State, especially at the grassroots. The elections ought to have been conduct­ed since October last year. This is a violation of section 7 of the 1999 constitution as amended which recognises only democratically elected LG council.”
But the APC state publicity secretary, Mr Joe Igbokwe disagrees. He said his party can never be afraid of the PDP in an election.
According to him, the council election would hold whenever they(APC) are ready and not necessarily because the PDP is clamour­ing for the conduct of the poll.
“We are preparing. Any day we are prepared, that is when we will do the local government election. We cannot go into election, because PDP said we should hold election. We are the ones that will decide. We are the actors. We are the one in government. They are just spectators.
For 15 years, we have been defeating them. What is left of the PDP?” Igbokwe queried. But Gani stated the result of the previous gover­norship elections in the state notwithstanding, his party would the APC in a free, fair poll any day.
He said the expectation of his party was that Governor Ambode would conduct council within his first 100 days in office, but that unfortunately the governor chose to toll the path of his predecessor.
“For Ambode to con­tinue to usurp the power and finance of the Local Gov­ernment is unfortunate. The governor as an individual is overwhelmed. He knows he cannot do an LG election, because the account is in red.
“It is the fact that the governor is continuing in the manner of the former gover­nors. The federal allocations and the IGR are cornered by the state government. If the LG election is held, the APC will lose in many areas.”
The party said it might be compelled to go to court over the issue, if the state government continues to run the councils with unelected persons against the provi­sions of the 1999 constitu­tion as amended.