LG Poll: We’re Ready – LASIEC, Police

Chairman, Lagos State Independent National Electoral Commission (LASIEC), Justice Ayotunde Phillips (rtd), assured on Friday that the commission was fully ready for the local government election holding in all the 20 Local Governments (LGs) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs) in the state.

 
Phillips gave this assurance while addressing newsmen at the commission’s headquarters at Sabo, Yaba in company with top electoral officers and the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Fatai Owoseni.
 

This was as Owoseni warned against violence and disruption of the exercise by hoodlums, vowing that whoever dared to test the will of the police would be made to face the full wrath of the law, even as he disclosed that a total 30,000 policemen would be deployed for the poll.

According to him, the figure is excluding those officers and men that would also be deployed by the Nigerian Army and other security agencies in the country, disclosing that the security presence would commence from Friday night in some already identified places, through stop and search approach.

The LASIEC boss, while noting that the Saturday’s exercise was no doubt very competitive giving the large number of candidates participating which also engenders democracy, also assured that the commission under her leadership would provide a level- playing ground for all candidates.

She said the commission was out to conduct a free and fair election, assuring that nobody should entertain any fear.

Phillip said toward accomplishing this, the commission had since started distributing sensitive election materials to all the local government areas in the state, pointing out that the process was ongoing.

“The commission has deployed sensitive materials to all the local governments in the state,” she said, pointing out that the process started Friday morning and was ongoing to ensure that the needed materials reached their destinations on time.

Speaking further, the LASIEC boss said accreditation and voting by the electorate would commence simultaneously by 8am and end by 3pm, reiterating that results for the chairmanship would be announced at the collation centres for the local government, while that of councilorship would be at the ward levels.

She, however, said mechanism had been put in place by LASIEC, through bodies such as Election Support Centre to monitor ongoing activities at voting centres to enable the commission respond immediately.

“We are fully prepared for the election,” Phillip assured, even as she tasked the media to be patriotic, fair and objective in their reportage in order to avoid putting across wrong information that could plung the state into chaos broke.