The Labour Party, LP, in Lagos State has voiced doubts about the ability of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, to deliver a credible local government election scheduled for 12th July, 2025.
LP’s Lagos spokesperson, Ife Salako, voiced his concerns yesterday at the West Africa Civic Tech Conference held in Lagos. Salako cited LASIEC’s past performance and what he described as a pattern of institutional inefficiency as reasons for his scepticism.
“I don’t have confidence in LASIEC to conduct a free and fair election,” Salako said. “But, we can actually force them to do the right thing. There is a way that someone may not want to do the right thing, but when you put pressure on them, they can do the right thing.”
While casting doubt on the commission’s neutrality, Salako remained optimistic that pressure from political parties and civic actors could compel LASIEC to uphold electoral standards.
He also addressed the ongoing leadership tussle within the Labour Party, which has led to uncertainty over candidate submissions in several local councils.
The party is currently split between factions loyal to Julius Abure, Lamidi Apapa, and a caretaker committee reportedly backed by Abia State Governor Alex Otti. The rift has made it difficult for the party to uniformly present candidates to LASIEC across the state.
Salako criticised LASIEC for seeking clarification from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on which LP faction to recognise, calling the action a failure of administrative responsibility.
“You go to your INEC portal. Who is recognised there as the chairman of the party? If INEC does not recognise Abure, then they should remove the name of Abure from their portal,” he said. “But you know, Abure has been there for a while.”
He insisted that INEC’s current records clearly recognise Julius Abure as the party’s national chairman and urged LASIEC to follow suit. According to Salako, any deviation from INEC’s established position would amount to institutional inconsistency.
“How long will it take?” he asked, questioning the electoral umpire’s delay in resolving the leadership conflict. “Until INEC takes a position and officially replaces the name on the website, there is no point arguing about who to submit the names to LASIEC. Right now, INEC has Julius Abure as the chairman of the Labour Party, and anybody coming from that name should be recognised.”
