Voters waiting to cast their votes at the OLG Nursery and Primary School Polling Unit, Obantoko, Abeokuta, Ogun State… yesterdayPHOTO: GBENGA AKINFENWAThe electorate’s disenchantment with governance at the local government level found expression in the voter apathy recorded in yesterday’s local council polls in Lagos and Ogun states.
Indeed, despite the efforts of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to ensure that election materials and personnel got to the various wards early, Lagosians stayed away, and polling booths were largely empty in many of the locations visited by The Guardian. x
For instance, at about 11:15 a.m., the Ladipo Odo Ward B2, Unit 055, was empty, and the LASIEC official there, Mrs. Olusile confirmed that things were panning out slowly.
Segun James
Residents of Lagos State yesterday shunned the local government elections held in the state even as Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu admitted that the low turnout might be a result of low voters’ education before the polls.
However, the All Progressives Congress (APC) was leading in the areas, including Somolu and Bariga, where the results for the chairmanship and councilorship elections were declared late last night.
This is coming as Governor of Ogun State, Prince Dapo Abiodun pledged to grant local government authorities autonomy to enable the residents to enjoy more dividends of democracy.
Sanwo-Olu, who arrived at his Polling Unit 019, Ward 9, Lateef Jakande/ Femi Okunnu Avenue, Ikoyi, at 11:03 am in the company of his wife, Dr. Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, also admitted that there was the late arrival of materials at the four polling units he checked on his way to cast his vote.
Ortom tackles presidency: I d make same comments as Kukah if I could address US congress thecable.ng - get the latest breaking news, showbiz & celebrity photos, sport news & rumours, viral videos and top stories from thecable.ng Daily Mail and Mail on Sunday newspapers.
Vanessa Obioha writes that Nigerians are painstakingly trying to communicate with President Muhammadu Buhari in a language that he understands
The language of President Muhammadu Buhari is not easily comprehensible, and this is no reference to his fluency in the English Language. But governance has a language that is at once global; however, it has distinct colouration defined by local realities. For instance, the Donald Trump presidency in America introduced the novelty of Mr. Trump communicating directly with the public, even announcing major policy decisions without recourse to his communication team, who were left to carry out damage control caused by this unconventional method.
SIMONKOLAWOLE! BY SIMON KOLAWOLE
My roommate in my final year at the University of Lagos was a man of humour. Much older than I was, he was someone you would call a “mature” student. He even bought a TV for our two-man room at the Henry Carr Hall of Residence. He had practised as a journalist for years before coming to Unilag to study political science. One of his witty moments usually came anytime it was getting to 9pm. Whatever we were doing, he would suddenly announce, “Simon, it’s time to listen to the government news bulletin.” That automatically meant we should tune in to the Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) to watch the Network News. He always said it so seriously you could miss the joke!