THE All Progressives Congress (APC) has taken an early lead in the ongoing announcement of results from the July 12 local government elections in Lagos State, as the exercise was reportedly overshadowed by low voter turnout and allegations of irregularities in some areas.
The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) began announcing official results on Sunday, July 13, across the state’s 20 Local Government Areas and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
According to reports, the APC has so far dominated both the chairmanship and councilorship positions.
Although the elections were largely peaceful across the 13,325 polling units in the state, they were marred by low voter turnout, raising concerns about democratic participation at the grassroots level.
Also, former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Kofoworola Bucknor-Akerele, on Saturday, alleged irregularities in the elections, calling for the cancellation of the exercise.
Bucknor-Akerele expressed frustration over her inability to vote at her polling unit while speaking in an interview with Nigeria Info on Saturday.
Parties’ participation
The ICIR reports that 57 chairmanship and vice chairmanship seats, along with 376 councillorship positions, were contested in the polls.
Of the 19 registered political parties, 15 fielded candidates, according to the News Agency of Nigeria.
The APC contested all available seats, while its closest rival, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), participated in 45 councils and 259 wards.
The Labour Party (LP) had a presence in 22 LGAs and 130 wards, with the remaining parties, including ZLP, AAC, AA, and YPP, fielding a smaller number of candidates.
The newly adopted coalition party, African Democratic Congress fielded candidates in the 20 Local Government Areas.
The Lagos State Chairman of ADC, George Ashiru, stated that the party’s decision to field candidates in all 20 local government areas was influenced by the 2024 Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy.
According to him, the judgment reaffirmed the constitutional status of the 774 local government areas in Nigeria, including the 20 councils in Lagos State.
“In line with the Supreme Court ruling on local government autonomy, we chose to focus our campaigns and field candidates only in the 20 constitutionally recognised local government areas,” Ashiru said.
APC sweeps early results
In Odi-Olowo/Ojuwoye LCDA, Seyi Jakande of the APC was reportedly elected with 58,446 votes, nearly 57,000 votes ahead of his PDP and LP challengers, who polled 1,743 and 1,464 votes respectively.
Also, the APC’s Taiwo Oyekan was declared winner of the chairmanship seat in Lagos Island LGA, with 28,385 votes. The PDP’s Ajibade Olusegun garnered only 1,271 votes, having come second.
Amuwo-Odofin LGA also saw a landslide win for APC’s Lanre Sanusi, who polled 24,926 votes, outpacing LP’s Seyi Ipinlaye, who secured just 1,962 votes.
In Agege LGA, APC’s Tunde Azeez won the chairmanship with 31,503 votes. His closest challengers, from APM and ZLP, received only 86 and 10 votes, respectively.
Also, Yisa Abiola Jubril of the APC was declared the elected Chairman of Iba Local Council Development Area, LCDA. According to LASIEC, the APC candidate secured a total of 31,547 votes, having satisfied all legal and electoral requirements.
Similarly, Kareem Azeez Abiodun was announced as the winner of the 2025 local council election in Oto-Awori Local Council Development Area (LCDA). He won a decisive victory with 19,874 votes, having contested under the umbrella of the APC.
Opposition faults process
However, the opposition parties in the elections have alleged widespread irregularities, including voter suppression during the voting exercise.
In an interview with Sunday PUNCH, the Secretary of the Labour Party in Lagos State, Sam Okpala, described the election as a “complete sham.”
Okpala stated that no voting occurred in numerous polling units across the state.
“As far as the Labour Party in Lagos State is concerned, there was no election today (Saturday). The level of malpractices we witnessed today is unprecedented in the history of elections in Nigeria,” he said.
“Where there is a semblance of voting, it’s all about ballot box stuffing and LASIEC staff coming with already thumb-printed ballot papers. The ruling party chieftains also came with thumb-printed ballot papers and stuffed them in the boxes,” he added.
This was as the Accord Party in the state, through its chairman, Dele Oladeji, asked the National Assembly to scrap the State Independent Electoral Commission.
According to him, the states’ electoral commissions were not independent, and their duties should be transferred to the Independent National Election Commission to enhance democracy and ensure healthy political participation and competition at the grassroots.
Mustapha Usman is an investigative journalist with the International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: musman@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M