Opposition Parties Demand Cancellation of Lagos LG Polls, Allege Electoral Fraud

A coalition of opposition political parties in Lagos State has called for the outright cancellation of last Saturday’s local government elections, describing the exercise as “undemocratic” and a “daylight robbery.”

The parties—including the Labour Party (LP), Young Progressives Party (YPP), African Action Congress (AAC), Action People’s Party (APP), and Accord Party (AP)—made their position known during a joint press conference held in Lagos on Tuesday.

Leaders of the various parties accused the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) of orchestrating widespread irregularities, disenfranchising candidates, and demonstrating blatant bias in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

Addressing journalists on behalf of the Labour Party, the State Chairperson, Pastor Dayo Ekong, whose remarks were delivered by her deputy, Mr Olasupo Ajayi, described the elections as a “state-sponsored rape of democracy.”

“The just-concluded Local Government elections were not a democratic process but a well-orchestrated charade by LASIEC to impose the will of the ruling party on the people of Lagos,” Ekong declared.

She added that there were extensive reports of missing voting materials, ballot papers, result sheets, and even ballot boxes in many areas. “We utterly reject the fraudulent results declared by LASIEC. We hold Justice Ayotunde Phillips and Justice Bola Ighile responsible for this travesty,” she said.

Ekong stated that the Labour Party is currently compiling evidence and will explore every legal avenue to challenge the outcome. “We will not allow this daylight robbery to stand,” she vowed.

Also speaking, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji of the YPP described the election as deeply flawed, alleging that over 100 opposition candidates were disenfranchised due to LASIEC’s rigid administrative processes.

Mobolaji, a former Chairman of the Lagos chapter of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), said logos of YPP, LP, and APP were missing from ballots in some LGAs, effectively removing those parties from the contest in affected areas.

He further accused LASIEC of secret relocation of polling units, ballot box snatching, and irregular voter registers. “It was not an election. We received only 310 out of over 3,000 agent tags the night before the polls. We were even told to photocopy the rest ourselves,” he said.

Mobolaji also lamented the lack of response to several letters of protest sent to LASIEC, the Lagos State Government, the House of Assembly, and security agencies.

Similarly, Mrs Abiola Adeyemi, the APP State Chairperson and IPAC Secretary, alleged that she was nearly assaulted by political thugs in Badagry for protesting the absence of her party’s logo from ballot papers.

Mr Dele Oladeji, the State Chairman of Accord, echoed the sentiment, stating that opposition parties “contested against LASIEC and not each other.” He alleged that LASIEC prevented stakeholders from monitoring the distribution of sensitive election materials and operated more like a player than an impartial umpire.

“LASIEC declared winners without making results available to the public. We are demanding that the commission present all collated results for public scrutiny,” Oladeji said, adding that the parties will challenge the outcome in court.

Despite the allegations, the Lagos State APC has maintained that the elections were free and fair. In a statement released Sunday, the party’s Publicity Secretary, Mr Seye Oladejo, said the results reflected the will of Lagos residents.

LASIEC announced that the APC won all 57 chairmanship seats and 375 of the 376 councillorship positions contested.