Opposition parties in Lagos State have rejected the composition of the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC), recently sworn-in by Governor Akinwunmi Ambode, describing majority of them as card-carrying members of the All Progressives Congress (APC).

They said the process of appointing the members was not democratic, transparent, but shrouded in secrecy, which suggests that the council poll to be supervised by the body, would not be free and fair, as the board is made up of some persons who are partisan.

Recall that a fortnight ago, the governor inaugurated members of the commission, which includes- Justice Ayotunde Philips (Chairman); Dr. Bunmi Omosehindemi; Mr. Lateef Raji; Mrs. Toyin Famakinwa; and Mr. Olusegun Ayedun, with Mr. Olumide Lawal as the Permanent Secretary.

In separate interviews, National Conscience Party (NCP) and Socialist Party of Nigeria (SPN) pointed at Dr. Bunmi Omosehindemi and Mr. Lateef Raji as staunch members of the ruling party, “who will protect the interests of APC that is already afraid of defeat.”
 
The National Secretary of NCP, Comrade Ayodele Akele, who described the move as unacceptable, said the process of appointing the members should have been subject of public scrutiny before the announcement was made. “It should be subjected to public scrutiny because it is an important agency. On that basis we reject the composition. It is clear that some of them are card-carrying members of the APC, if we don’t know them all, we know Dr. Omosehindemi, who was a foundation member of the NCP, but migrated to the APC, you can be sure that he is going to represent the interest of their party.

“Secondly, we also know that Raji Lateef is a card carrying member of APC, he was a House of Representatives candidate, he was a Special Adviser to former Governor Raji Fashola and his posters are everywhere now, for the Ondo State gubernatorial election, which interest is Raji going to protect?”

He noted that when the House of Assembly cleared them, there was no public scrutiny, saying, “Ideally for equity, balance, justice and fair play, why should the composition of LASIEC be majorly APC members? No Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) members, no NCP and any other political parties, the state belongs to all of us, we are all stakeholders. This winner takes it all syndrome is what is affecting our politics.

“You can’t just pick or appoint people without allowing the public to know who you are proposing to install. As it is, the appointment is ruse; APC agents are the people that were appointed in the present affair, we are not comfortable with the composition. Each of the political parties must have representatives, to cut across board, making it entirely APC affairs is a ruse, that is where you know that the coming local government election is not going to be fair. They are doing this because of the fear that Lagosians may vote them out.”

Akele said his party is going back to court and notified the party’s lawyer already, adding that the state is not serious about the conduct of local government election.

According to the State Secretary of SPN, Moshood Osunfurewa, “the nature of the recent appointments into the board of the LASIEC with majority of the appointees being card-carrying members of the APC, for instance, the appointment of Dr. Bunmi Omoseindemi, a leading figure in the APC into the board like most other board members suggests to us that the council poll that would be conducted by such a board would not be free and fair, as the board is made up of biased and partisan elements. We demand that the board of LASIEC should be composed of representatives of active political parties and social groups and its affairs carried out transparently.      

“We are quick to warn that if these undemocratic steps of the Lagos State government are not reversed, we of the Lagos State Chapter of the Socialist Party of Nigeria will join and collaborate with other willing forces to engage in both legal and political struggle to stop the Lagos State Government from turning the state into a “banana republic.”