LAGOS JULY 13TH (NEWSRNAGERS)-Registered voters in Lagos State, on Saturday, trooped to the polls to elect their preferred chairmen and councillors who will pilot the affairs of the 20 local government areas (LGAs) and 37 local council development areas (LCDAs) in the state.
Lagos, the economic nerve of Nigeria and a major revenue contributor, has 7,060,195 registered voters.
Nigeria’s President, Bola Tinubu, hails from Lagos and was the governor of the state from 1999 to 2007.
There are 13,325 polling units across the 376 wards spread across the state and Lagos has an estimated population of 20 million people.
On the eve of the election, LASIEC Chairman Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile said that no political party was restrained from participating in the elections.
Information from the agency showed that 15 out of the 19 registered political parties in the country have been confirmed for the chairmanship, vice chairmanship, and councillorship positions in the 20 LGAs and the 37 LCDAs in the state.
Justice Okikiolu-Ighile told Channels Television that the electoral body would not use the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the election.
“There are some electronics that we are going to use in between. We can go manual,” she said.
The councils where elections were expected to be held included Agege, Ajeromi-Ifelodun, Alimosho, Amuwo-Odofin, Apapa, Badagry, Epe, Eti-Osa, Ibeju-Lekki, Ifako-Ijaiye, Ikeja, Ikorodu, Kosofe, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Mushin, Ojo, Oshodi-Isolo, Shomolu, and Surulere.
The LCDAs are Orile Agege, Ifelodun, Agbado-Oke Odo, Ayobo-Ipaja, Egbe-Idimu, Mosan-Okunola, Oriade, Apapa Iganmu, Olorunda, Badagry West, Eredo, Ikosi-Ejirin, Ikoyi-Obalende, Iru/Victoria Island, and Lekki.
Other LCDAs are Ojokoro, Onigbongbo, Ojodu, Igbogbo-Baiyeku, Ijede, Imota, Ikorodu North, Ikorodu West, Agboyi-Ketu, Ikosi-Isheri, Lagos Island East, Yaba, Odi-Olowo, Iba, Oto-Awori, Ejigbo, Isolo, Bariga, Coker-Aguda, and Itire-Ikate.
Currently, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) maintains political control of the state.
According to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), voting was expected to commence at 8:00 a.m. and end at 3:00 p.m.
However, Channels Television’s correspondents, who monitored the exercise across the state, observed that the turnout in many of the voting centres was low.
As of 11:20 a.m., only six out of the 234 registered voters at Ikosi-Isheri PU 036 had come out for accreditation and voting, despite the presence of LASIEC officials and agents from the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC).
Out of the 1,229 registered voters at Alausa PU 003, only 20 had voted as of 11:45, more than three hours after the official voting and accreditation time of 8:00 am.
A similar situation was observed at Alausa PU 027, where only five votes had been cast, out of 62 registered voters, and at Alausa PU 085, with seven registered voters, and no votes, as of 11:56 pm.
At PU 014 in Elizabeth Fowler Memorial High School in the Adeniran Ogunsanya area of the Surulere LGA, only 60 people had exercised their franchise out of the 669 registered voters as of noon.
Although there were no reports of major violence during the polls, voter intimidation and late arrival of materials were recorded in some areas.
A mild drama ensued at the Ikosi-Isheri Local Council Development Area on Saturday, as election officials were left stranded.
One of our correspondents on the ground observed that presiding officers and electoral officials were unable to leave for their stations, due to an inadequate number of vehicles to convey them as of 9:30 am.
“They told us it’s not far from here, so we can trek there,” one of them said.
Voter Apathy
On Awolowo Road in the Ikeja LGA, some youths were seen playing football on one side of the road close to Computer Village as of 12:07 pm, while accreditation was ongoing at polling unit 005 on the other side of the road.
A similar situation was observed in Surulere.
The electoral officers in the area said they received the ballot papers later than 8 am.
Some of the voters there also said they had been waiting to vote since 8 am.
As of 2:22 pm, only 24 voters out of the 733 registered voters in the PU, representing just 3.5 per cent of the expected voters, turned out at PU 18 in the Ikate-Itire LCDA of Surulere.
Additionally, one of our correspondents noted that economic activities were ongoing at Igbayilola Market, located near the polling unit, at approximately 2 pm.
Sanwo-Olu, Hamzat, Gbajabiamila, Others Vote
Lagos State Governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, cast his vote at 11:28 am.
Sanwo-Olu and his wife, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, arrived at their polling units, 06 and 07, at St. Stephen Nursery and Primary School on Adeniji Adele Road, Lagos Island, at about 11 am.
The Deputy Governor, Kadri Hamzat, cast his vote at his polling centre in Oke-Balogun, Epe at 11:05 am.
Femi Gbajabiamila, the Chief of Staff to President Bola Tinubu, cast his vote at exactly 12:28 pm at PU 014 in Elizabeth Fowler Memorial High School, in the Adeniran Ogunsanya area of the Surulere LGA of Lagos.
The former Speaker of the House of Representatives, while stating that the election was free and fair, lamented the generally low voter turnout.
“There is a general low turnout from what I’ve seen perhaps because people don’t understand fully the importance of local government elections, which is even more important than any other election.
“We need to sensitise our people. We need to educate them about the importance of grassroots government. But so far, it’s peaceful and quiet. It’s free and fair. There are no skirmishes anywhere, and that’s what we all want for any election.”
He also said that the adoption of the African Democratic Congress by the opposition coalition was a welcome development and good for democracy, as Nigeria is not a one-party state.
Asked about his view on the implementation of the LG autonomy ruling by the Supreme Court exactly one year ago, Gbajabiamila said it was a work in progress and would be perfected with time.
He said, “The ruling was welcomed by everybody. It’s the execution and implementation of that ruling that we are still trying to dot the i’s and cross the t’s.
“I believe in a matter of that, we will realise full autonomy. There cannot be effective governance without full autonomy. That’s what we are working toward.”
Speaking after casting his ballot at PU 019, Ward E, on Oluwole Olaniyan Street, at the Orile Agege LCDA, the Speaker of the Lagos State House of Assembly, Mudashiru Obasa, said it was the duty of the opposition to put a formidable front to gain power.
Surulere Chair Blames Elite
The Surulere Local Government Area Chairman, Bamidele Yusuf, expressed displeasure over the low turnout of the elite at polling units during elections.
Yusuf, who is also the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in this year’s ongoing LG election, said the elite needed enlightenment, as their turnout during elections was usually low.
“The electoral officers came early and people have cast their votes as early as 8 in the morning. It is peaceful, and we normally have a large turnout of voters because those who have left normally come around to vote. The logistics are perfect, and materials were distributed early.
“Although we have a large turnout in some areas, there are also places where voters did not turn out as expected, especially where we have the elite. This is not supposed to be so because we are supposed to learn from the elite. But what we see here is that the elite sit at home during elections. The media needs to enlighten the elite so that they can come out and vote in the coming elections.
“When you get to Adeniran Ogunsanya, the number of people that come out to cast their votes is too small,” he said.
Observer Laments
Enough Is Enough Nigeria described the turnout of voters as “painfully low again”.
In a post on its official X handle, it said, “Turnout today is painfully low again. @LasiecLagos didn’t do its job: poor planning, zero transparency, and last-minute information. But citizens too didn’t show up. That silence gives the system room to keep failing us. We must do better.”
LASIEC Reacts
However, the Chairperson of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (retd.), stated that the claims of low turnout might have stemmed from voters departing after casting their votes.
“In some places, the turnout was very impressive. Some others took their time to come out.
“Someone sent me a message that it didn’t take him more than five minutes at the polling unit. So, we may not even know how many people came out. If we say people turned out very low here, but it might not be so over there because they were not kept at the polling unit.”
She noted that, although many polling units outside urban areas were inaccessible, the sensitive and non-sensitive materials eventually reached their destinations.
“At the end of the day, everything settled. Some parts took some time to start, but others took a while. Some people took their time to come out to vote,” Okikiolu-Ighile said.
The LASIEC boss stated that, although there were some security concerns, the police handled the situation effectively.
She said the commission overcame logistical difficulties in some parts of the state.
Restricted Movement
Earlier, major roads leading to the nation’s commercial capital were largely deserted.
The Nigeria Police Force had announced that movement would be restricted from 6 am to 3 pm in the state.
Channels Television’s crew on the ground observed on Saturday that there were very few vehicular movements from Otedola Road to Ojota and Yaba.
In the Ojodu LCDA, skeletal movements were observed on Ogunusi Road in Ogba and at the Berger bus stop.
A security patrol vehicle was used to barricade a section of the road around the Berger pedestrian bridge.
Motorists cleared by security agents in the area were told to reverse and use the expressway.
The Lagos Zonal Directorate 1 of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission conducted extensive monitoring operations aimed at curbing vote buying and financial inducements across several strategic locations during the 2025 elections.
It was led by the Zonal Director and Chief of Staff to the Executive Chairman, Michael Nzekwe.
The agency said it deployed officers who toured polling units across the state.
Sorting, Counting Of Votes
Voting officially ended at 3 pm, after six hours.
The exercise later proceeded to the sorting and counting of the ballot papers in the presence of election observers, party agents, and some voters who had stayed behind to monitor the process.
At Polling Unit 17 in Alhaji Masha, Small London, Surulere LGA, LASIEC officials began the sorting and counting of votes at 3:04 pm.
At the polling level, the votes recorded are expected to be transferred to the ward level and then to the local government offices of LASIEC for final collation and announcement of results at the LASIEC headquarters in the Yaba area of the state.
Heavy Security At LASIEC HQ
Meanwhile, a heavy presence of security agents from various units of the Nigeria Police Force was observed at the head office of LASIEC on Lancaster Street in the Sabo Yaba area of Lagos on Saturday evening, ahead of the collation of results from the local government areas.
Armed policemen barricaded the entire stretch of the street.
One of our correspondents counted at least four armoured vehicles and 10 police patrol vehicles stationed on the street.
Fierce-looking policemen were positioned across the head office of the state electoral commission.
Scores of armed policemen were also stationed inside the LASIEC headquarters, with electoral officials coming and going from the building.
The final collation of results in the chairmanship and councillorship elections is expected to be announced at the centre by the chairman of LASIEC, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile.
On the possibility of collation and announcement of results, the retired judge said, “We are working, if we will be able to get it today. I’m still with them in the situation room, and if we cannot, early tomorrow morning.”
As of the time of filing this report, the announcement of the results from councils had yet to commence.
DailyTrust
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