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In the forthcoming local government elections on July 12, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has promised to guarantee a credible and transparent process.

At a stakeholder meeting with representatives of the state’s registered political parties on Tuesday, Mobolanle Okikiola-Ighile, the commission’s chairman, provided the guarantee.

Elections will take place on July 12 in all 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs), according to LASIEC’s previous announcement.

Speaking to the crowd, Ms. Okikiola-Ighile urged collaboration from all political parties during the election process and pledged to provide everyone with equal opportunities.

“Nobody among us is a card-carrying member of any political party. Let us be nice to ourselves. We are not your opponent; we are working for the betterment of this election.

“We are prepared, we are working, we have sworn an oath, and we are going to stick to the oath,” she stated.

The chairman of LASIEC stressed the need of following due process and asked candidates and political parties to adhere strictly to the election schedule and rules.

She also revealed that political parties must pay processing costs and that nomination forms for candidates will be accessible at LASIEC headquarters.

She did point out that half of the required fees would be paid by female candidates. The election guidelines will include information on payment details, such as revenue and agency codes.

Verification of candidate documents will take place at the commission’s main office. Campaigns and rallies are allowed from April 18 until July 9, and the official election rules will be released on April 17.

“Political parties are to submit details of their party agents between June 23 and June 28. The political parties are to give verifiable party secretariat addresses to the commission,” she added.

Temilola Akinade chairperson of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC) in Lagos State, expressed her displeasure with the commission’s new board in her remarks, pointing to their failure to communicate with important stakeholders prior to the election announcement.

She expressed concerns about how the 37 LCDAs will be affected by the Supreme Court’s decision on local government autonomy.

The African Action Congress (AAC), led by Ayinde Olawale, announced that his party would not run in any election that involved the 37 LCDAs. The state chairman of the Accord Party, Dele Oladeji, also encouraged LASIEC to keep lines of communication open with political parties during the process.

The commission’s implementation of changes to the LASIEC law, particularly the power to hold executive elections in all 57 LGs and LCDAs without sufficient consultation, was also challenged by a number of party representatives.

They demanded that the amended statute be made publicly available, pointing out that numerous parties had not yet had access to it.

In response, Ms. Okikiola-Ighile emphasized that the commission respects the role of political parties and IPAC while stating that operational demands were the reason for the delay in engaging IPAC. She explained that the goal of the stakeholder conference was to discuss the law, which requires LASIEC to meet with IPAC just before the election guidelines are released.

The meeting was attended by representatives of several political parties, such as the National Rescue Movement (NRM), Labour Party (LP), All Progressives Congress (APC), African Democratic Congress (ADC), Accord Party, Youth Party (YP), and Action Democratic Party (ADP).

Delegates from the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP), and All Peoples Party (APP) were also in attendance.

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