Why Lagosians shunned the Local Council Polls

By Onyinyechi Ugwoke

The local council elections over the weekend in Lagos was relatively free of the violence and chaos that characterised the primaries. But it was a sad excuse for an election.

Even with restrictions on movement imposed by the State Government to enable citizens come out to vote. Residents generally shunned the exercise. Voter turn-out was quite poor.

In Ikeja polling units, voters were a no show too. Many wards saw less than 20 persons coming out to vote. LASIEC personnels in these wards said they had never seen such a lowturn out of the electorate in an election before.

Residents attributed their indifference to this local elections to the issue of bad governance, failed campaign promises and the belief that election results were altered.

Kola who lives in Ikeja said “the only thing politicians are good at is promising during campaigns, and not fulfilling them after being elected into office. I am only in the area to observe and not to vote.”

This sentiment is echoed by Adebayo who believes Nigerians are not happy with promise and fail leaders. He is also concerned that the House of Representatives has refused to pass a bill for electronic voting. “Voting in this country is only a mirage because the electoral bodies have been bribed, it is who they want that will be elected and not by voting,” he concluded.

When Chinenye the drinkseller was asked if she had voted she replied, “I am only here to sell my drinks and gala to anybody interested. If I just hear gunshots, I will run away.”

For the few who came out to vote like Azeez, in Ikeja Ward D, Polling unit (024), people who refuse to vote won’t stop him from voting. “We are all complaining about bad governance yet we refuse to exercise our rights. How do we expect this country to be better? How do we ward off bad leaders?”

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