Lagos LG elections: YIAGA predicts low voters’ turnout

Youth Initiative for Advocacy, Growth and Advancement, YIAGA Africa, a Civil Society Organisation, has predicted a low turnout of voters for the local government elections in Lagos State scheduled for Saturday, July 24, due to low mobilisation and publicity.

A board member of the group, Eze Nwagwu, said a simple interaction with citizens in the streets 72 hours before the election revealed that the majority of respondents were not aware of the election.

Eze made the statement while discussing the “emerging issues” regarding the Saturday polls on Friday in Lagos.

Mr Nwagwu said there is a huge gap in communication between the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) and CSOs and election observers.

“Groups who applied for accreditation via the commission’s website as directed waited endlessly for feedback from the commission on the status of the accreditation,” he said.

“The commission ignored all online applications and requested groups to resubmit hard copy applications to its office barely 24 hours before the elections, which impacted planning for observer deployments.

“Similarly, engagement with some CSOs in the state revealed that the commission is not responding to inquiries for updates on the LGA elections.”

Mr Nwagwu said there is a possibility of limiting the participation of participants especially observers which, “by extension will raise questions of accountability and transparency by the commission.”