Why Council Polls Won’t Hold In Lagos In 2014 – LASIEC

Justice AFOLABI ABDULFATAI ADEYINKA (RTD) CHAIRMAN, Lagos State INDEPENDENT ELECTORAL Commission (LASIEC)

Retired Justice Fatai Adeyinka, the Chairman, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, has said that Local Government election would not hold in state this year due to some constraints.

Mr. Adeyinka told lawmakers on Monday at a plenary session attended by some members of LASIEC that the commission had made some recommendations to the state government about this challenges which has not been approved.

He said part of the recommendations was the creation of additional wards in the state.

The LASIEC boss also said that the current voters register needed to be updated because it was last used in 2011 and could not be used again by the electorate.

“We need an updated voter’s register which is with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, and we have requested for this but INEC is not willing to release it.

“We don’t want to conduct the election with the voter’s register on ground because it does not contain the addresses of electorate.

“So, if we decide to use an old register, we will be disenfranchising some voters from exercising their rights.

“Also, there is the need to create additional polling booths to add to the ones we have on ground which is also the responsibility of INEC.

“Until these constraints are resolved, we won’t be able to conduct elections into the local governments.

“Definitely, election cannot hold this year (2014)”, he said.

Taiwo Kolawole, the Deputy Speaker of the House, who presided over the plenary, said that the House could not allow a vacuum at that tier of government as the tenure of the current chairmen would end by in October.

“The LASIEC chairman has told us that election cannot hold this year because of some constraints.

“LASIEC do not have the power to create additional polling units and they can’t conduct the election with a register that is not updated so that some people will not be disenfranchised”, he said.

The deputy speaker directed the Leader of the House, Ajibayo Adeyeye, to work with the House Committee on Judiciary to liaise with the executive arm of the state and come up a law pending when council elections would hold.

Lagos State has 20 local governments and 37 local development areas.

(NAN)