LAGOS- The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has in a new tradition handed out certificates of return to AC candidates without first announcing the results.
A total of 57 chairmanship candidates and 245 councillorship candidates of the AC were given the certificates against the insistence by other political parties that results must be announced first.
LASIEC Chairman, Justice Abdul-Fatai Adeyinka had in a pre-election news briefing said that results of the Oct. 11 council polls would be announced at the polling units but would be collated at the commission for final announcement and validation.
Tensions, however, were very high today at the Commission’s headquarters in Sabo-Yaba of Lagos , where journalists, party candidates waited for LASIEC officials from 11 a.m. till about 6 p.m.for the announcement of results.
Although no explanations were given for the delay which lasted for about seven hours while the officials held closed door meetings.
Events took a different turn when the commission’s officials marched out and announced that they had come to issue certificates to victorious candidates.
Some of the AC candidates who spoke on grounds of anonymity revealed that they were informed on Saturday to come and pick up their certificates confirming that they won in the election.
Attempts to get the commission to stop issuing the certificates failed as the officials told newsmen and other candidates to visit the LASIEC Web site if they wanted the results.
LASIEC chairman unable to hold on to the allegations and questions emanating from various quarters then requested for a copy of the result which he proceeded to announce.
Although the total number of votes cast in the state could not be ascertained as
press time, the Chairman declared that the AC won in all the local governments and wards in the state.
The results showed that the PDP came second based on total number of votes cast though they did not win any position.
Reacting, APGA Chairmanship Candidate in Ikeja Local Government Area, Mr. Adebayo Lawanson, told newsmen that he would challenge the results in court.
Lawanson, who was at the secretariat to hear the announcement of the result, said that “the result announced were fictitious”.
“Even if the commission was dancing to the tune of the party in government, it could have achieved its aim without being too obvious as to refuse to announce election results and go ahead to invite AC candidates to collect certificates,” he said.
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