The attention of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) has been drawn to the Wednesday,, June 16, 2021, publication on Page 17 of Punch Newspaper with the headline “LASIEC LISTS LOSERS OF APC LG PRIMARY AS WINNERS”. The newspaper alleges therein that some winners of the Local Government Chairmen and Councillorship Primaries were surreptitiously replaced in the lists published by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission.
LASIEC as an impartial umpire in the electoral process views this allegation as unfounded and misinformed hence the decision to address it immediately in order to set the record straight and to educate the print and social media along with the members of the public as to the correct position of this matter especially when it appears that there is a deliberate misrepresentation, misinformation or distortion of facts for political advantage in order to whip up sentiment. An accusation like this may cast doubt on the integrity and impartiality of the process and thereby erode the confidence of the electorate. This is very worrisome, especially as it is coming from a Newspaper of high standing, where a simple phone call or text message to the Commission could have clarified the issue.
For the avoidance of doubt, LASIEC as a State Independent Election Commission (SIEC) does not issue out nomination forms to individuals but to the Political parties who intend to sponsor candidates for elections. The Parties then conduct their Primaries and forward the names of their candidates to LASIEC for validation. The power to change or substitute Candidates lies with the Political parties and NOT WITH the Electoral body.
In the same vein, the Commission also refutes a social media post attributed to a Protester in Lagos, alleging that the Commission has de-registered more than Eighty-Eight Political Parties from participating in the forthcoming Local Council polls, especially Political Parties that belong to the Youths in Lagos State.
LASIEC does not have the statutory mandate to de-register Political Parties. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) pursuant to the provision of Section225A of the 1999Constitution (as amended by the Fourth Alteration, No. 9) Act, 2017 is the only body empowered to register, de-register and regulate Political Parties and their activities in accordance with the provisions of the law.
It will be recalled that in 2020, INEC in carrying out its statutory responsibility, de-registered 74 “underperforming” Political Parties who failed to meet the criteria provided for by section 225A of the 1999 Constitution (as amended). INEC action was subsequently affirmed by the ruling of the Supreme Court. This leaves Nigeria with a total number of Eighteen registered Political Parties.
LASIEC only dealings with these eighteen registered political parties certified and confirmed by INEC for the issuance of nomination forms for the conduct of the forthcoming Local Council Polls scheduled to hold on July 24, 2021. It is also important to state that out of the eighteen political parties, fifteen of them have indicated their interest in participating in the election process by obtaining Nomination Forms for their Candidates.
The above-mentioned publication is therefore baseless, misleading, and unfortunate as LASIEC does not have the power to either deregister any political party or substitute any party candidate in the list forwarded to it for publication.
The commission will continue to build and sustain its integrity as an impartial body recognized for excellence in electoral administration and sustenance of democracy by adopting the internationally accepted best practices and standards of Electoral Processes.
