I am not satisfied with delay in commencement of elections in Lagos, says Lai Mohammed

A Lagos lawmaker, Mr Folajimi Lai-Mohammed, says he is not satisfied with the delay in the commencement of voting across most polling centres in Lagos State

Lai-Mohammed, the son of the Minister of Information and Culture, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said this in an interview with our reporter.

He was reacting to the delay in the arrival of electoral officials and materials at polling centres across the state.

“INEC did not start any form of accreditation for intending voters until about 10:30 a.m., at the Onibongbo area, and this has been a deterrent to most voters

“I am not satisfied with the situation but from the information reaching me, it has been logistic problem from INEC.

“It cuts across certain areas in the state and not peculiar to a particular neighborhood,’’ he said.

The lawmaker, currently representing Ikeja Constituency 1 at the Lagos House of Assembly, said that the development had resulted in a low turnout of voters in most centres across the state.

He said this was so because people were at the polling units to exercise their civic rights but returned home out of frustration; and only few others came back again to vote when it started.

Lai-Mohammed urged the electorate to exercise patience and come out to exercise their civic rights.

“It can only be delayed but not denied; voters should come out to vote. It is something you do once in four years,’’ he said.

He also advised INEC to learn from their mistakes in previous elections and brace up to be more efficient in subsequent ones.

He said, “Money was released for this election and INEC had ample time to prepare for it.

“So, they must brace up and be more efficient in preparing and conducting future elections,” he said.