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Allegations of electoral fraud and systemic bias have emerged from the July 12, 2025, Lagos State Local Government election, as opposition candidates accuse the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) of favouring the ruling party. One of the most vocal critics is Labour Party (LP) candidate Moyosore Badejo, who contested for a council position, shared his experience during a dialogue organised by News Central TV on Thursday, August 7, 2025.
“I’m from the Labour Party. I contested in question for local government for the council’s position,” Badejo began. He expressed disappointment at the conduct of the electoral body. “LASIEC has just one job, which is to conduct elections in Lagos State… and it’s painful that throughout that process, it was at night to election, around 9 p.m., that I got my polling unit agent’s tag.”
He explained how the late distribution of tags disrupted their logistics. “It automatically gave me stress in how to distribute those tags to my polling unit agent.”
Badejo also described how opposition candidates were unfairly treated during the candidate screening process. “LASIEC allowed the ruling parties to do their screening before, like two days before, but we, the opposition parties… did our screening on the last day.”
According to him, this meant many LP candidates were disqualified for failing to meet last-minute documentation requirements.
“If, for example, you didn’t bring a particular document, you have to go back and bring it. When you bring it, they’ll tell you they’ve closed for the screening. So automatically, that… distressed a lot of candidates.”
More seriously, Badejo alleged direct electoral malpractice by LASIEC officials in his ward. “I have videos I’ve sent to them already, where LASIEC officials themselves were thumb-printing for APC.” He found the results implausible. “In my ward, the highest votes that won the council’s position is 1,250 in the past three years…I got 990 votes in the last election, and APC came and said they got 5,000 voters.”
He also recounted what he described as “strange instructions” allegedly issued to electoral staff the night before the election. “A friend of mine, a LASIEC official told me… they give them food, give them money, that if you can see anybody come with a white handkerchief and paint his face three times, allow him to vote multiple times.”
Badejo alleged rampant irregularities at the polling stations. “In my ward, people were voting with ATM cards, ID cards, and different things. It’s very sad that that was not an election process. It was more of a selection.”
Expressing frustration, he concluded with a pointed comparison: “It was painful for me because I ran against a 62-year-old man that hasn’t done anything and doesn’t know even the name of the streets in my community. But, you know, we’ll keep on pushing our way.”
As of the time of this report, Security agencies and LASIEC are yet to issue a public response to these allegations.
