2014 council poll: LASIEC creates 4 new wards, 377 polling Units

By olasunkanmi akoni & Monsur Olowoopejo
Ahead of the 2014 council polls in Lagos state, the State Independent Electoral Commission, LASIEC, has created four additional wards and 377 polling units for three councils in the state.

In a similar development, as part of efforts towards entrenching the principles of democracy at the grassroots, the Chairman of Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, Lagos State, Kehinde Bamigbetan ,on Wednesday inaugurated an eight-man electoral body that will supervise the conduct of election into various positions of executive committee of the seventy four Community Development Associations, CDA’S, and Community Development Committee, CDC, of the council.

However, residents faulted the creation of wards, saying, “the number is not enough considering the huge population in the councils.”

The three councils: Oshodi-Isolo Local Government, Isolo and Ejigbo Local Council Development Area, LCDAs, had in the last election 510 polling units.

Chairman of LASIEC, Justice Fatai Adeyinka (Rtd,)who spoke at an interactive forum on the delineation of wards and the creation of additional polling units in Lagos state, held at the Oshodi-Isolo Local Government Secretariat, explained that the intention of the commission to create new wards and polling units was to give residents more opportunity of participating in electoral process especially at the grassroots level in the state.

According to him,”This is the outcome of the inter-ministerial technical committee on delineation of wards and creation of additional polling units comprising representatives from the office of the Surveyor-General of the state, officials from the ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs and Physical Planning and Urban development and the commission who toured the entire councils in the state.”

He added:“The committee was guided in the exercise by some criterion which includes: Population density, cultural affinity, historical factors, landmass and contiguity so as to ensure credibility of the exercise.

“These were areas requiring new wards and additional polling units have been identified and delineated to reflect the proposed changes in the affected areas in Lagos state.”

“With this, there will be room for electing more councillors and they will have the opportunity to freely interact with their representatives, as this will give room for them to channel their complaints representatives which will in turn bring development to the state,” the chairman said.

Adeyinka however, said: “The new wards and polling units are recommendation of the commission and will be considered by the Lagos State House of Assembly for legislation. If it scaled the hurdle, it will remain and if not, they will fail to exist.

“Even after the legislature has passed it, it will also require the state governor, Babatunde Fashola to sign the legislation into law.”

Reacting to the development, Mr. Segun Olowojefe lamented that the list is inconclusive. He explained that  “We gave LASIEC the number of wards and polling units for the three councils but the commission failed to grant our demands.”

Another resident, Mr.Olabode Ogunnaike complained “I am not happy with the number of polling unit recommended by the commission for the three councils. I remember during the last council polls, many eligible voters were disenfranchised because there weren’t enough polling units for them to cast their votes.”