15 parties slug it out as LG polls hold in Lagos, Ogun today
The Nigeria Police Force on Friday said human and material resources had been deployed to provide adequate security before, during and after the council elections scheduled to hold in Lagos and Ogun states on Saturday (today).
They also warned they would not tolerate violence and thuggery among politicians and their supporters.
In Lagos, the exercise, which would be conducted by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission to elect chairmen and councillors, is expected to be held across the 20 local government areas and 35 local council development areas of the state.
The state Commissioner of Police, Hakeem Odumosu, said the Command had put measures in place to enforce the restriction of movement across the state between 6am and 3pm, adding that only those on election duty and essential services on the election day would be exempted.
“We assure the good people of Lagos State, LASIEC officials, candidates, accredited election observers and other actors in the election of adequate security before, during and after the elections,” he was quoted as saying in a statement signed by the Police Public Relations Officer in the State, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.
Similarly, the Ogun State Police Command said it would deploy special weapons and tactics, anti-kidnapping and anti-cultism and police mobile force teams for the local government election in the state.
The Ogun State Independent Electoral Commission had announced that movement would be restricted between 8am and 2pm on Saturday while the election lasts.
The Commissioner of Police, CP Edward Ajogun, in a statement on Thursday, said the command was working with other security agencies and would not give room for electoral malpractices or violence.
Meanwhile, the All Progressives Congress and the People Democratic Party have expressed their readiness to participate in the Lagos State council election.
The state chapter of the APC said residents had been mobilised to participate in the exercise, urging them to see the election as an opportunity to exercise their civic right to vote.
On the disagreements that ensued from the party’s chairmanship and councillorship primaries held in May in Lagos, the APC spokesman, Oluseye Oladejo said, “The party has different levels of reconciling members in cases of conflict from primary elections and other issues and members have availed themselves fully of these mechanisms within the party. And the party is united going into battle tomorrow.”
But the state chapter of the PDP expressed concern over the independence of LASIEC.
The spokesperson for the PDP in the state, Taofik Gani, said, “There is nothing we can do as far as I want to be realistic. They (APC) are in control of the (state) independent electoral commission. They are in control of neighbourhood security. They are in control of the police; they are in control of everything. So, it is not even a case of probability; it is a case of certainty that unless they don’t want to, they are likely to clear all the seats when they are defeated or not.
Gani, however, said the opposition party would field candidates for all the chairmanship and councillorship positions. Punch
