The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has declared its readiness to conduct a free, fair, and credible poll across the state’s 57 local councils.
Speaking on a television, the LASIEC Chairperson, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (Rtd) , affirmed the Commission’s preparedness despite taking office only a few months ago.
“Though it is tough, considering the fact that we just came into office a few months back, we have, however, moved on very quickly with the job at hand,” she said.
According to her, LASIEC has undertaken comprehensive stakeholder engagements across the state’s 20 local government areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
“We have visited all the LCDAs in the state. We had meetings with IPAC (Inter-Party Advisory Council). We had meetings with the security agencies, including the Inspector General of Police. Every stakeholder is aware of what we are doing,” she said.
Amid speculation about the deployment of biometric technology for the election, the chairperson clarified that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) would not be used at the polling units. Instead, LASIEC will adopt a simpler approach.
“We are not using BVAS. We are using telephones for accreditation only. Voting would be manually done,” she stated.
She added that LASIEC will rely on the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) voter register for accreditation and verification.
“INEC gave us the register of voters. Only INEC can provide that. We would use the telephones to verify the names on the register,” she explained.
On the ongoing legal disputes on the elections, the chairperson said: “We are not in breach of the law. Everything is done in line with the Electoral Act. What is happening is that some people are misinterpreting the law. I won’t go into the details of it because the matter is in court,” she maintained.
Addressing concerns about low voter awareness, the LASIEC boss insisted that the Commission has implemented extensive public sensitization efforts across the state.
“We have carried along all stakeholders. Every BRT bus carries the sticker. Every Danfo bus carries the sticker. Every Keke carries the sticker. We also have billboards in all five divisions of Lagos, so everyone is aware of the coming elections,” she noted.
The election is scheduled to hold on Saturday across the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas in the state.
