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Members of Nigeria’s opposition parties have slammed the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC have alleged widespread electoral misconduct during the Lagos State Local Government elections held on July 12, 2025.
At a post-election Chairmen’s Dialogue organised by News Central TV, candidates and party agents voiced strong dissatisfaction with the conduct of the elections, citing serious irregularities at both polling units and collation centres across various Local Council Development Areas (LCDAs).
Seyi Ipinlaye, Labour Party chairmanship candidate for Amuwo-Odofin, alleged deliberate suppression of voter participation.
“Just 20% of voting materials was brought to Amuwo-Odofin and we have enough evidence to prove the world,” he said.
“The LA deliberately did not bring voting materials to the voting centre at Amuwo-Odofin.”
Aniette, another observer, expressed concerns over the neutrality of security and electoral officials, stating:
“Nigerian Police was a problem, LASIEC was a problem…as if they were complying with APC.”
Echoing the pervading sentiments, Lawal Rasaq, the Accord Party agent for Ifelodun LCDA, described the entire exercise as flawed and skewed against opposition candidates.
Olanrewaju, another speaker at the dialogue, accused security agencies of siding openly with the ruling party:
“I can’t find words soothing enough to define this daylight robbery, where even uniformed men, the police in particular, with evidence –and the military were just against the opposition party.”
Allegations of voter intimidation were also raised, with multiple speakers claiming that armed groups in tricycles threatened voters.
Awolaja Olarenwaju alleged: “In one of the polling units, these people came out with tricycles… telling people if you know you’re not voting for APC, don’t come out. If you come out, we’ll shoot you.”
“One of the polling units was turned into a carnival. There were like 15 tricycles moving around and threatening people not to come out if they won’t vote for APC.”
PDP Chairmanship candidate for Coker Aguda LCDA, Tessy Whyte, also said:
“This last election is the worst election we ever had and people were moving from one polling unit to another.”
The role of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) was heavily criticised throughout the session.
Opeyemi Benjamin claimed:
“I was dehumanised. The police are accomplice with LASIEC and it is nothing to write home about.”
James Adeshina went further:
“The LASIEC body for me are like another political party, because for me, they acted that way. It’s a shame—in this age, we are conducting such an election with a lot of irregularities. The political empathy was also very high. For me, there was no election.”
Olumayowa Magudu issued a dire warning about the country’s political direction: “We are sliding into anarchy.”
In a bizarre twist, Adebayo Daniel, the African Action Congress (AAC) candidate, alleged that people were using their Automated Teller Machine (ATM) to vote.
In his remarks, the Managing Director of News Central, Kayode Akintemi, reaffirmed News Central’s commitment to delivering unbiased, insightful coverage and facilitating balanced discussions on matters of public interest. Akintemi stressed that invitations were sent to the ruling party and the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) for replies on the allegations made by the opposition.
Despite the grave allegations, LASIEC and security agencies have yet to issue official responses to the accusations. The ruling party, APC, has also not responded to the claims at the time of reporting.
