Why APC Is Afraid To Conduct LGs Election In Lagos State

CYRIACUS IZUEKWE

Facts have emerged why All Progressives Congress, APC in Lagos State are reluctant and have been postponing the local government elections in the state.
P.M EXPRESS findings revealed that the leadership of the party are afraid to conduct the election, owing to what happened in the previous elections where the opposition Peoples Democratic Party, PDP made a huge inroad unlike in the past.
Despite the fact the PDP lost in the presidential and governorship elections in 2015, they made an appreciable impact in those election in the state.
APC won the presidential election with a total number of 792,460 votes while PDP got 632, 327 votes with a difference of 160,133 votes.
During the governorship election, PDP secured 659,738 votes while APC won with the total votes of 812, 738 with the difference of 153,000 votes.
During the National and State Assembly elections, APC lost some constituencies to PDP unlike before where APC won nearly all constituencies. Even though APC won all the three senatorial seats..
The matter, however was made worse after the present administration assumed power and the economy of the country slide into recession with attendant hardship in the land. This has affected the popularity of the present administration and APC as a party despite the fact they are not the cause of the problem.
An APC chieftain, who did not want his name to be mentioned, said the party is afraid should they conduct any election at this period and that they might lose woefully because some Nigerians are obviously angry.
“Look out the prices of food, the value of our currency and every other materials have gone very high. The ordinary people cannot feed themselves and their family, and given this situation, people might vote against us,” the party chieftain said.
Some Lagosians have placed the whole problem on the doorsteps of the ruling APC government despite the fact that the cases of mass looting have been established against principal member of the previous administration.
According to some residents, the expectation was very high when the present administration took over and many felt disappointed due to the fact that they allowed situation to degenerate further in the country.
The local government election was held last in the state on 22 October 2011. After the tenure of those elected, the local governments are managed either by caretaker committee or sole administrators till date.
Following the inability of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, to conduct the local council election, the National Conscience Party, NCP took Lagos State Government and LASIEC to court for failing to conduct the local council elections in the state after the tenure of the last elected chairmen elapsed on 29 October, 2014.
Justice Abdulfatai Lawal of the Lagos High Court, on 23 October, 2015, in his judgment ordered that council elections should hold within the next 30 days.

He also ordered the dismantling of the caretaker committees in the 20 local government and 37 local council development areas, declaring such system as illegal and unconstitutional.
Dissatisfied, with the verdict of the court, Lagos State filed Notice of Appeal against the judgment and prayed the court to stay execution of the judgment pending the hearing and determination of its appeal before the Court of Appeal.

But sometime in May this year, the State Commissioner for Local Government and Community Affairs, Muslim Folami assured that the local government election will be held before the end of the year.

However, possibility of that happening is slim as nothing on ground to suggest that the election will happen in this 2016.