. Police Arrest Party Agents With Incriminating Material
Some voters in Lagos on Saturday said they turned out for the council elections despite an unfavourable weather in demonstration of patriotism and contribution to democratic development.
The rain, accompanied with thunderstorms, began in Lagos at 5am and lasted for more than two hours before subsiding in many areas.
The showers, however, returned after some time, drenching some voters who defied it to cast their votes in many areas, while others found shades to avoid such experience as they waited to have their turn.
Some voters who spoke to NAN in Surulere, Ebute Meta, Ikotun and some other parts of the state said that they believed that their votes would count.
Forty-five-year-old Mrs Monsurat Adebayo, told NAN at Polling Unit 006 on Raufu Williams Road, Surulere that she had been looking forward to voting in the elections.
Adebayo said: “I used to live in this neighbourhood and have moved to another, but I had to drive down here to cast my vote as a patriotic Nigerian.
“I also intend to go and talk to my friends in the neighbourhood to come out to vote. “I am impressed that some people turned out for the polls in spite of the rain. I am also happy that voting is peaceful.“
A 27-year-old student, Mr Seun Dosunmu, also said that he was determined to vote for credible candidates for a better future.
“I hope the whole exercise turns out successful,“ he told NAN.
A trader, Mrs Zainab Belly, who has lived for 20 years in Ward 5, Itire-Ikate LCDA, said that she was happy to vote to contribute to the grow of democracy.
“I see no reason why today’s election should be violent because we had been waiting for it.
“We are peaceful people living in this area; we want the best for our council area and the whole state,” she said.
An electrician, Mr John Ahmed, told NAN in the ward that he had also been looking forward to voting for the candidate of his choice who, he said, would develop the area.
At a polling unit located at St. Peter’s Anglican Primary school on Apapa Road in Ebute Meta, delayed arrival of electoral officers and materials made some male residents desiring to cast their votes to resort to football playing.
They said that they would wait to cast their votes to demonstrate their patriotism.
In Ikorodu, Mr Sanai Agunbiade, Majority Leader, Lagos State House of Assembly commended the electorate for coming out in spite the rain.
Agunbiade encouraged the youths to come out en masse and vote for candidates of their choice, as the process was to develop the communities and grassroots.
He cast his vote around 11:00am at Ward F in Ikorodu central.
Also the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Lagos State Police Command has arrested five men with incriminating materials in Ikeja, as the local government elections got underway.
The spokesman for the command, ASP Olarinde Famous-Cole, confirmed the arrest to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Famous-Cole said that the suspects, who claimed to be agents to a political party, were arrested with incriminating materials at 8.30 a.m.
“They have been handed over to the Area F Command, which will send them to the special team for election crimes at the state Criminal Investigation Department for further investigations.”
Meanwhile, security agencies, including the police, military, Security and Civil Defence Corps and Immigration, have deployed their personnel to strategic locations in different parts of Lagos to ensure peaceful local government elections.
A senior police officer who sought anonymity on the Funso Williams Avenue in Surulere, where security men put barricades, told NAN that the area command observed that some residents were flouting the restriction order.
He, however, gave the assurance that those with genuine reasons would be allowed to continue their journey.
NAN reports that the movement restriction began at 7.00am. It will end at 3.00pm.
Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission is conducting Chairmanship and Councillorship elections in its 20 local government areas and 37 local council development areas.
Twelve political parties are participating the election.
They are: Accord Party (AP), Action Alliance (AA), Alliance for Democracy ( AD ), All Progressives Congress (APC), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP ), Labour Party (LP) and All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA).
The others are United Democratic Party (UDP), United Progressive Party (UPP), Kowa Party (KP), National Action Council (NAC) and Peoples Democratic Movement (PDM).