Lagos LG poll: LASIEC can’t be trusted to conduct fair elections — LP spokesperson, Salako

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In Lagos State, the Labour Party (LP) has expressed skepticism on the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission’s (LASIEC) capacity to conduct a legitimate local government election on July 12, 2025.

Ife Salako, the spokesperson for LP in Lagos, expressed his worries yesterday during the West Africa Civic Tech Conference in Lagos. Salako explained his skepticism by pointing to LASIEC’s prior results as well as what he called an institutional inefficiency trend.

“I don’t have confidence in LASIEC to conduct a free and fair election,” Salako said. “But, we can actually force them to do the right thing. There is a way that someone may not want to do the right thing, but when you put pressure on them, they can do the right thing.”

Salako expressed skepticism about the commission’s impartiality but maintained hope that political parties and citizens will exert pressure on LASIEC to respect election laws.

He also talked about the ongoing struggle for leadership in the Labour Party, which has caused confusion regarding the submission of candidates for various local councils.

Currently, the party is divided between groups that support Lamidi Apapa, Julius Abure, and a caretaker committee that is purportedly supported by Abia State Governor Alex Otti. The party has found it challenging to consistently submit candidates to LASIEC throughout the state as a result of the divide.

Salako called the action a lack of administrative accountability and criticized LASIEC for asking the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for clarity on which LP faction to recognize.

“You go to your INEC portal. Who is recognised there as the chairman of the party? If INEC does not recognise Abure, then they should remove the name of Abure from their portal,” he said. “But you know, Abure has been there for a while.”

He encouraged LASIEC to do the same, arguing that INEC’s current records unambiguously identify Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman. Any departure from INEC’s stated stance would be considered institutional inconsistency, according to Salako.

“How long will it take?” he asked, questioning the electoral umpire’s delay in resolving the leadership conflict. “Until INEC takes a position and officially replaces the name on the website, there is no point arguing about who to submit the names to LASIEC. Right now, INEC has Julius Abure as the chairman of the Labour Party, and anybody coming from that name should be recognised.”

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