Polls: LASIEC presents certificates of return to winners, urges grassroots dev’t

The Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) on Wednesday, presented certificates of return to winners of the Saturday’s Local Government Election in the state.

Our correspondent recalled that 57 chairmen-elect and 376 councillors-elect received their certificates at LASIEC’s headquarters at Sabo-Yaba, Lagos.

Presenting the certificates, LASIEC Chairman, Justice Bola Okikiolu-Ighile (rtd), urged the newly-elected council officials to be up and doing and be committed to grassroots development.

Okikiolu-Ighile commended the electorate, security, media and other stakeholders, including over 45,000 ad-hoc staff for their active participation and dedication throughout the electoral process.

“This event is more than a ceremony. It is a hallmark of democratic culture, culminating in the actualisation of resilient months of strategic planning, civil participation and institutional efforts.

“I congratulate all the candidates, who participated in the exercise and their supporters on this context.

“This ceremony is a remarkable milestone that signifies the end of one electoral process and the beginning of another as the tenure of office of the incumbent chairmen, vice-chairmen and councillors end on the 26th day of July 2025.

“With these certificates, LASIEC officially affirms the mandate wholeheartedly given to you in trust by people from various communities.

“This certificate of return confirms you as a validly elected candidate of your respective local government or local council development area,” Okikiolu-Ighile said.

The chairman acknowledged and commended the dedication and the display of professionalism by LASIEC staff as well as recruited and co-personnel.

“I appreciate their steadfast commitment despite the operational and logistics challenges experienced during the very early hours of the exercise,” she added.

Some chairmen-elect, who spoke with NAN, promised to hit the ground running to make lives better at the grassroots.

They assured residents of more economic prosperity and infrastructure with recent local government financial autonomy, assuring people of their respective areas to expect more from them in all sectors.

“With autonomy, we will deliver more. We will do everything possible to make lives better by unlocking economic potentials including tourism,” some of the chairmen assured.

Our correspondent recalls that APC won all 57 chairmanship seats and secured 375 of the 376 councillorship positions across the state in Saturday’s Local Government election in the state.