YIAGA Foresees Low Voter Turnout in Lagos LG Polls

By Vanessa Obioha

Ahead of the Lagos LG Polls scheduled for tomorrow, Saturday, July 24, a civil society organisation YIAGA Africa fears that voters may not turn out en masse. It reached this conclusion after conducting a pre-election environment observation where other issues emerged such as the poor deployment of technology by Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), poor communication between LASIEC and stakeholders, poor voter education campaign and difficulty in assessing guidelines and laws guiding the conduct of the LG polls.

While noting that the state’s electoral commission has substantially implemented its election preparatory activities, YIAGA Africa observed that there are existing gaps especially in the engagement of stakeholders and the media as well as low grassroots campaigns for citizens participation.

“The LGA election which is considered closest to the people has not received the intensive grassroots campaign for citizens’ participation in the process,” said Eze Nwagwu, a board member of YIAGA Africa at a press briefing in Ikeja.

The CSO also noted that LGA election campaigns “seem to have waned down immediately after the party primary elections.”

Nwagwu found more worrisome “the almost lack of awareness of the LGA election in the state. As simple as interaction with citizens in the streets 72 hours before the election revealed that the majority of respondents were not aware of the election. Similarly, engagement with citizens revealed that another reason for possible low voter turnout is the growing discontent amongst the system with local governance. Respondents interacted with revealed the lack of impact from Local Governing Councils and the absence of independence as the resources and decisions are controlled by a select few at the State level.”

Security challenges also pose a threat to the elections tomorrow according to the findings of the group.

“There are concerns that elections in some LGAs could be marred by violence especially resulting from unresolved intra-party and inter-party conflict from the primaries and in the pre-election phase,” said Cynthia Mbamalu, Director of Programs, YIAGA Africa.

She noted that “the violent clashes that engulfed the conduct of political party primaries in some LGA’s and the pre-election cases in court also indicate unresolved grievances. This calls on the leadership of parties like the APC to ensure speedy resolution in the 24 hours leading to the election.”

However, Mbamalu disclosed that the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has received from LASIEC the list of polling units where the election will be conducted and will marshal out its plans to ensure every polling unit is adequately covered.

“The NSCDC says it will deploy 3,700 personnel and will set up a situation room with hotlines for responding to queries and tracking and handling incidents as they occur.”

Notwithstanding, the CSO calls on voters in the 20 LGAs and 37 LCDAs where elections will be conducted to come out in their numbers and elect a representative of their preference. “Eligible voters should go out and exercise their franchise, knowing that their votes matter and their votes will count.”