It is generally acknowledged that election into the local government councils in Nigeria usually doesn’t generate or elicit the same kind of enthusiasm which Nigerians demonstrate during the same exercise being conducted for offices in other tiers of government. The trend should be very worrisome to watchers considering the fact that the local government is the tier of government closest to the people at the grassroots and also in view of the fact that electoral participation is one of the key ingredients of social engineering in any given society.
In Nigeria, it is however ironic that many people don’t accord any form of importance to the process of electing their leaders at that level of government with call on relevant stakeholders to come up with the right policies and actions to stem the tide. So bad is the situation that pundits have however maintained that most of the time, voter turnout in percentage terms usually hovers between 45 and 35 percent of registered voters in most of the states of the federation whenever election is due in that tier of government.
Though, a lot of factors can be adduced for this seeming lukewarm attitude, one major reason that stands out is what could be termed lack of interest owing to the perception of the public which suggests that the process has been skewed towards a predetermined end by the electoral management bodies. Worried by the trend, it is generally assumed that non-participation of the people in the democratic process has three broad effects namely accountability effect, representative effect and the last being legitimate effect.
Cognisance of this drawback, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) recently organised a stakeholders’ forum to sensitise them (stakeholders) on the need to turn out en mass to elect their councilors and chairmen in all the 20 local governments and 37 local council development areas making up the state. It must be noted that the next rounds of election to elect leaders into the various council is scheduled to take place sometimes in 2025 but LASIEC has had to adopt proactive measures to ensure that the election turns out credible.
Those invited to the event include representatives of the various political parties, faith and community based organisations as well as members of the prominent civil society groups whose advocacy relates to election and leadership building. Gaily dressed and expectant, the participants were on hand to listen resource persons that the commission had put together to enlighten them on the need to effectively participate at the forthcoming election.
The event which took place at the sprawling premises of the commission located in Yaba area of the state saw stakeholders who were drawn from all segments of the Lagos society who came from all the nooks and crannies of the state to be sensitized on the need to come out when elections are due. Welcoming those present at the occasion, the Permanent Secretary in charge of LASIEC, Dr. Shakirudeen Onasanya who highlighted the essence of the event urged participants to avail themselves of the benefits to be accrued to them for participating.
Onasanya stated that the commission will ensure inclusiveness being its (the commission’s) mantra, saying no segment of the state would be left behind in LASIEC’s preparation towards the forthcoming local government elections being envisaged by the people of the state. “The development that leads to a free, fair credible election as well as impressive voter turnout hinges on the policy of inclusiveness, public confidence and trust in the electoral system,” Onasanya said.
He however stated the resolve of the commission to engage and interface with the leadership of the various groups in the state, saying the ultimate goal was to deliver on an outcome that would be judged as credible by the public. The permanent secretary who stated that the event was the first of its kind added that “We are going to talk to women groups, we are going to talk to vocational groups, we are going to schools and even go to schools to sensitise our children and in the end, we are going to have a free and fair election.”
On the issue of voter apathy, the LASIEC boss stated that the commission has devised a means to engage in mass awareness generation programmes to reach every strata of the state society. “We are going to this by equipping them with the needed information that would eventually help them make the right and informed choices during the forthcoming election,” he said.
A group that is partnering with LASIEC on the forthcoming poll, the Women Advocates Research and Documentations Centre (WARDC), who was present at the event stated that there was the need to ensure that the people of the state get a buy-in into the electoral process. A Director in WARDC who was also at the event; Mrs. Mary George-Peluola ex- pressed the resolve of her group in helping LASIEC attain its goals of effectively mobilizing the people of the state to massively come out to exercise their franchise when elections are due in 2025.
“What we are doing is to tell the people and make them realize that they need to participate in the electoral process,” said just as she also maintained that the event was also to enlighten participants on the role that they are to place in the process leading to the poll. Elections are due in two years time, LASIEC has however promised to correct the numerous misgivings against the electoral management bodies by the public who has remained largely skeptical on the ability of the electoral commissions to deliver on credible polls.