The ongoing Local Government (LG) elections in Lagos State have been described as largely peaceful and well-organized by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
Speaking with journalists after casting his vote at his polling unit on Lagos Island, the governor expressed satisfaction with the electoral process, noting minor logistical challenges that had been addressed.
“As you can see, everything is okay here apart from the fact that it is a populated area, we are in Lagos Island,” Sanwo-Olu remarked, highlighting the calm atmosphere at his polling unit.
“Voting is going on well. The officers are on ground and I have conducted my civic exercise very well and you can see the atmosphere, all the agents of the parties are on ground and in three-four minutes it’s all over.”
The governor, who monitored the process on television before heading to vote, acknowledged minor logistical hiccups in some areas but emphasized that these had been resolved.
“Watching on TV, maybe there are one or two logistics in one or two places, but I think they have also resolved them,” he said, attributing delays to early morning vehicular movement and transportation challenges.
“You know how typical it is, you know early morning vehicular movements, and buses could not come on time,” he added.
Sanwo-Olu commended the preparedness of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) and the presence of ad-hoc staff and election materials at polling units.
“The beauty of it is that all the officers and ad-hoc staff are on ground to go to their polling units and they have all their materials. It’s not that there were shortage of materials or anything,” he stated, assuring that by now, “everybody should be there.”
The governor also praised the peaceful weather and the enthusiasm of voters, urging citizens to exercise their civic rights responsibly.
“We are also glad that we have a peaceful weather, I expect that the time we have used for people to express their civic rights, they will use it right and everything will be conducted peacefully,” he said.
Highlighting the significance of grassroots governance, Sanwo-Olu described local governments as a critical arm of government, emphasizing their independence as stipulated by the constitution.
“We believe that the grassroots election is also very critical, the councillors and the Chairmen as important as other arms of government and we need to give them that speed of space,” he noted.
He further praised Lagos’ local governments for aligning with the state’s THEMES Plus Agenda, stating, “The Local governments in Lagos state are complimentary, they all take the THEMES plus Agenda and run with it even at their local government LCDA levels.”
The governor also acknowledged the presence of observers, including representatives from the state equivalent of LASIEC, who were on ground to monitor the process.
“To report and to see what is here, it’s extremely peaceful and we have several lots of observers and people just want to like learn the lessons,” he said.
Sanwo-Olu expressed gratitude to LASIEC for their efforts and reiterated the importance of local government autonomy, noting that many councils are actively competing to deliver projects and services.
“Local government is an important arm of government and you can see that is what our constitution stipulates, they are independent and you know we have been advocating for their independence and as you can see that a lot of them have projects that and deliverables and they are competing among themselves and we are excited about that,” he added..