Hon. Justice Ayotunde Philips(Rtd), Chairman, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission(LASIEC), has commended members of staff and other government officials for a plausible and ethical election exercises exhibited in the last Local Council elections and for the overall success of the election process and its outcome.
Philips made the commendation at the 3-day post election assessment retreat, held in Epe, on Thursday, in Lagos State.
The theme of the event, titled, “Improving the Election Process – A Review of Year 2021 Local Council Elections.
According to her, the fundamental objective of the retreat was to appraise the conduct of the last local government election vis-a-vis the processes and the operational framework of the exercise.
She added that the event would help to identify areas of success with a view to consolidating and sustaining them.
“It will also enable us to highlight areas of challenges with a view to referring solutions for future elections, ” she said.
Phillips cited that, going by the media reports and the reports of the observers and monitors, both local and international, the just concluded election was adjudged to be free, fair, credible and violence free.
She said that, unfortunately, the turnout of the voters was disappointedly low but this has been the bane of local elections generally in the country.
However, we thank God above all, that despite some pockets of unrest, It was generally peaceful, free, fair and credible.
“LASIEC has improved tremendously in the conduct of elections, in comparison to others held in the past.
“Though, there were some initial administrative hiccups here and there like late arrival of materials.
“Others as, smart card malfunctioning were noticed, these were swiftly resolved by our team in the election support centre otherwise known as the situation room, ” She added that the commission made a lot of improvement in the areas of provision of adequate security, prompt payment of Ad-hoc staff, effective media coverage.
Others as; voter registration that targeted the youth in particular, efficient collaboration with critical stakeholders, Auch as; political parties, media.
Others as; civil societies, Non-Governmental Organisation(NGOs),Security Agencies, Community Religious Leaders, Traditional rulers and Market Association.
Philips said that these and other innovative ideas we would continue to adopt until a sustainable electoral process is institutionalized in Lagos State.
Earlier, Dr Olayiwole Onasanya, the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission(LASIEC), said that the development became necessary in order to appraise and evaluate the last election exercise.
She said that Year 2021 Local Government elections had come and gone but as a Commission, there was need for us to take stock of the whole exercise and identify lessons for the future.
“I strongly encourage everyone here to take advantage of this important moment that will enhance your professional capacity.
“I want to assure that at the end of the programme, there will be new initiatives and fresh ideas on how to reposition LASIEC for optimal performance, ” She said.
Source: (NAN).
