“Let us say the truth, we don’t really see the work of these local government chairmen.”
The local government and councillorship election that held in Lagos on Saturday witnessed a low turnout of voters as only a handful of people were at polling units to elect their council leaders and lawmakers.
At several polling units visited by the media, electoral officials, security officers, and party agents lamented the absence of voters in the election.
Voters strolled into polling units in ones and twos to cast their votes. No queue was observed at the polling units as a result of low turnout.
Many Lagosians opened for business on Saturday, with many seen at different bus stops trying to commute from one part of the state to another. This is despite movement restriction announced by the state government.
Youth and children also took to the streets playing football and riding bicycles among other fun activities.
Voter Apathy
At Agege, Ikeja, Mushin, and Ifako-Ijaiye areas, there was low turn out, except for few polling units where there was relatively fair turnout.
The media gathered that the widespread apathy was largely due to the perceived weakness of the opposition parties.
Many voters were uninterested in the voting process, saying the “outcome of the election is already known.”
Also at Ikorodu, Kosofe, and some parts of Shomolu LGAs, voters deserted polling units with only a handful of votes cast as of 1 p.m.
A voter, Usman Salisu, attributed the low turnout to the hardship being experienced by the people.
“Let us say the truth, we don’t really see the work of these local government chairmen. People don’t feel their impacts. Also, the votes we have been casting all these years, what is the benefit? I can’t blame anyone that doesn’t come out,” he said.
A similar situation was recorded at Apapa, Surulere, Lagos Mainland and Lagos Island LGAs.
The media observed widespread apathy as some polling units had less than 20 per cent of the registered voters coming in to vote at different times.
Meanwhile, in a statement by Yiaga Africa, observers reported that voters were absent in many polling units.
“As observed, there was reasonable compliance with the no-movement directive of the state government, however, voter turnout was abysmally low across the LGA’s/LCDA with voters absent in some polling units as of 11am,” the statement reads.
The election was generally peaceful with many polling units recording zero to low disturbance.
Culled from the Premium Times Nigeria
