The Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) has been declared the winner of the 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas elections conducted last Saturday.
The election results, which the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) Chairman, Justice Abdulfatai Adeyinka (rtd) made public at the Yaba head office of the commission, also showed that out of the 376 councillorship positions, ACN won 355 seats; People’s Democratic Party (PDP) won 18 seats; Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) won 2 seats while the result of one ward in Mushin, for which there will be a rerun, was declared inconclusive.
It took about 48 hours before the official results could be released and the leading opposition party, PDP, has attributed this delay to a plot between the ACN and LASIEC to rig the election results.
The PDP lay claim to winning in the chairmanship elections in Badagry, Eredo, Ikoyi-Obalende, Agbado Oke-Odo and Somolu.
At a news conference on Monday, by Dr. Oluyomi Finnih, a leader of the Elders Council of the PDP, the conduct of the election was described as “unsatisfactory and unacceptable by all standards.”
“We find it very important to react to the regrettable handling of the local government elections conducted last Saturday by the LASIEC in collaboration with the Lagos State Government,” he said. “We want to state that the process has not been satisfactory, a development which portends danger for our democracy.
As widely reported, the election was marred by noticeable abuses through rigging and violence across the state. Yet, we are pleased that Lagosians who are hard hit by the poor performance of the local councils did exercise their civic duty by voting for the People’s Democratic Party.“
However, LASIEC chairman has urged the all aggrieved political parties to approach the election tribunal and election appeal tribunal, which the state’s Chief Judge, Inumidun Akande, had setup. He declined offering explanation to some reports which claimed that the returning officer of Badagry had already declared the PDP as the winner of the council’s chairmanship election.
“I cannot go into detail now so as not to prejudice the interest of other political parties. Let them go to the tribunal for redress,” he said, while also disclosing that 28 political parties participated in the election.
250 candidates contested the chairmanship positions and 1145 candidates for councillorship seats across all 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs in the state.