The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) yesterday said over six million Lagosians are to elect 57 council chairmen and 376 councillors in the Saturday Local Government Election.
LASIEC Chairman, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (Rtd), said this while briefing reporters on the commission’s preparations for the poll.
She cleared the air that the election will hold in the 20 Local Governments Areas (LGAs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) of the state.
Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile said that out of the 19 registered political parties that expressed interest in the election, only 15 political parties would participate in the election.
The election, she added, will be held in all the 13,325 Polling Units across the state.
“The total number of registered voters stands at 7,060,195. The number of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) collected is 6,214,970 while the number of PVCs uncollected is 845,225.
She expressed optimism that the commission is fully prepared to conduct a peaceful, fair and transparent Local Government election.
She said the LASIEC was not taking anything for granted as it had put everything humanly possible in place to ensure a successful election.“The commission is leaving no stone unturned to ensure a successful, free, fair and credible election that is devoid of violence, intimidation, or harassment. We count on you for an unbiased and balance reportage of the exercise”.
“My appeal to all the contestants is to uphold democratic values and conduct themselves with decorum, maturity, and respect for the rule of law. The commission remains non-partisan and will not condone any form of electoral malpractice or violence,” she said.
On accreditation of voters, she said that LASIEC would not use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the election.
She said, instead, an alternative electronic device would be used for seamless accreditation.
“We have worked with a device using telephone to get voters accredited for the election. It works anywhere and does the same work with Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS),” she said.
She stated that the distribution of sensitive materials to all councils would be done on the eve of the Election Day in the presence of security agencies and political party agents to ensure security and transparency.
According to her, non-sensitive materials have already been deployed.
Justice Okikiolu-Ighile informed the gathering that councillorship results would be collated at the ward collation centres while the chairmanship results would be collated at the local government collation centres.
