By Dansu Peter
Following pressures by opposition parties and some individuals, the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC has said that the much-anticipated council polls will likely be conducted in June.
The LASIEC Chairman, Justice Ayotunde Philips made the disclosure yesterday at a stakeholders’ forum, organized by the commission to sensitize public on the forthcoming council poll, held at Alausa, Ikeja.
Philips promised that the commission would ensure a free, fair and credible election among parties.
Dr. Oladosu Mudasiru, who was the Guest Lecturer at the forum, urged stakeholders to encourage internal democracy within their parties and also adopt an ideology.
The meeting was well attended by stakeholders from majority of the political parties in the state, such as; All Progressives Party, Peoples Democratic Party, National Conscience Party, NCP, All Progressives Grand Alliance, APGA, among others.
Meanwhile, the National Conscience Party of Nigeria, NCP, in a fresh move has asked a Federal High Court in Lagos to withhold further allocation of funds to Lagos State from the federation accounts due to its failure to conduct elections into local government areas.
Following an earlier suit filed by the party, a Lagos State High Court had, in 2015, declared the caretaker committee’s administration of local governments in the state null and void and ordered that elections be conducted within 90 days.
The state government, subsequently, appealed the judgment and is yet to conduct the court-ordered election till date.
In a fresh suit, marked FHC/L/CS/198/2017, the NCP is seeking for a declaration that only elected officers are entitled to run the affairs of all local governments in the state. The suit, which was filed on behalf of the party by human right lawyer and activist, Ebun-Olu Adegboruwa, want a declaration that the state is not entitled to benefit from the federation account since it has refused to conduct local government elections.