A candidate of the Young Progressives Congress YPP, Comrade Adelana Adesegun, and his supporters have condemned in strong terms the omission of the party’s name from the list of others who participated in the July 24 Local Government Elections and organized by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) in Shomolu.
Followers of the party, who, on Friday 17, stormed the venue of the Local Government Election Tribunal holding Alausa, Ikeja, in solidarity with their candidate Adelana, said they were shocked when they discovered on the day of the election that the name of their party, YPP, was neither found on the ballot papers, nor was their party logo inscribed, an act they claimed was done by the electoral body to deliberately disenfranchise them.
Speaking to our correspondent, Adelana expressed utmost displeasure at the conduct of LASIEC saying, “This act is a calculated move to deprive the good people of Shomolu their rights to candidates of their choices”. Of all LCDAs that participated in the elections, it was only in Shomolu that YPP’s name was omitted.
LG candidate of the Young Progressives Congress YPP, Comrade Adelana Adesegun
He said, “The people of Shomolu are seriously aggrieved and interested in this case because the majority of the electorates in that area are supporters of our party – YPP”.
He continued, “A lot of them felt disappointed at the electoral body for the omission of their chosen party which led to their disenfranchisement at the polls. More worrisome is the fact that LASIEC has not been able to provide genuine reasons for the omission of our party name from the ballot papers, but we believe strongly that justice will in the end prevail”.
Adelana informed that he, alongside his party members, is at the court to seek a re-admission of their previously filed motion with Petition No: EPT/IKJ/LG/010/2021 which he claimed was struck out by the court following an unauthorized request by his former legal counsel Mr Babatunde Awotubo Esq.
“The case was scheduled for hearing on September 4, but because it concurred with another court proceeding involving myself, I delegated my then-lawyer Babatunde Awotubo Esq. to represent me. I was shocked when the news got to me that my petition at the court had been struck out at the request of my lawyer. I called him and he confirmed to me that he intentionally withdrew the case”. Adelana explained.
“We are here today to seek a re-admittance of our struck out file before the Election Tribunal” he added.
A YPP supporter, Oduji Adetola, said expressed displeasure at the exclusion of their party from the polls. He said, “We are here because of our mandate, especially due to our inability to cast our votes following omission of our party name from the ballot papers. A lot of YPP supporters came out on the day of the election to exercise their civic rights, but we were clearly robbed and we seek justice!”
Media and Publicity Secretary to the young Progressive Party, Mr Ifeoluwa Abiodun, said they came to the court premise to protest the removal of their party name from the ballot papers. He said although they had lodged their grievances to the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) but hopes the Tribunal would right the wrong.
Efforts to get details of what caused the controversial omission of the party from LASIEC proved abortive as at the time of filing this report.