By Baron Ike
Chairman of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Justice Ayotunde Phillips as well as the police authorities in the state have pledged a free, fair and peaceful council election in Lagos today, Saturday, July 22, and have accordingly asked the electorate to apply themselves well for the success of the exercise.
Phillips, a retired Chief Judge of Lagos State and Fatai Owoseni, the State Commissioner of Police spoke at different occasions on Friday, July 21 insisting that there will not be room for trouble makers and election panipulators.
Phillips said LASIEC had made adequate arrangements to cater for the needs of Lagosians living in the riverine areas b y liaising with the Naval authorities, assuring that all electoral materials had been moved to the areas where election would be held.
Owoseni who met with the political parties, pleading with them to conduct themselves in orderly manner added that trouble makers will not tolerated and that there will not be respect for those who deliberatly work to deny the state a free, fair and peacful exercise.
No less than 200,000 policemen were said to have been deployed to different parts of Lagos for the election.
Election monitors, mainly those from the civil society community have also concluded arrangement on how to go about the exercise.
Regardless, many of them complained on Friday evening that they were yet to get their accreditation documents, fuelling speculation that the All Progressive Congress (APC) that is in power in the state may be working in ways that will give the party advantage over other parties.
Candidates standing in for the election continued their lobby for votes on Friday after open campaign officially ended on Thursday, with their supporters moving from one drinking joint to the other in parts of Lagos to ensure that they still have control over their supporters.
According to LASIEC, election will take place at all the 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Development councils across the state.