The Chairperson of the Labour Party in Lagos State, Pastor (Mrs) Dr. Adedayo Ekong, has expressed deep disappointment with the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) over the conduct of the local government election held on Saturday, July 12, 2025. According to Ekong, the election was nothing short of a charade, marred by widespread irregularities, massive rigging, and various forms of electoral malpractices. In this interview with OLADIPUPO AWOJOBI, she spoke candidly on the flaws in the electoral process and reaffirmed the Labour Party’s resolve to continue the fight for democratic integrity in Lagos State.

Talking about the Lagos State local government election, which took place on July 12 the All Progressives Congress (APC) won all the local governments and 375 out of 376 councillorship positions despite the fact that other political parties also contested. Is it that the people did not actually vote for the Labour Party? What’s your impression about the results?

That is not true, people came out, and in some areas where Labour Party members came out to vote, they were intimidated, they were harassed, and warned that if they didn’t want violence, they should go back to their homes. Not only that, we had areas where some of our people, especially non-indigenes, were beaten and sent back home.

And you are aware that this caused or resulted in voter apathy. Also, because a lot of people have this mindset that the norm is that the election should be rigged, and the ruling party must win everything, they stayed back. I think there is a need for us to correct this.

For anybody to be credible, to hold any position that affects the people, especially at the grassroots level, it’s important for that person to be a people’s person, who is compassionate about the welfare of the people. Unfortunately, in Nigeria, they assume that it is a state government position, which they should run anyhow, not minding that it affects the lives and destiny of the people. It’s sad. That people did not come out to vote for the Labour Party is not true. People did. Labour Party has the sympathy of the people because they are very optimistic that the only party that can help to liberate people from suffering and protect taxpayers’ money is the Labour Party.

How many local governments did you participate in?

We participated in all the local governments in the state, we campaigned everywhere.

We have had local government elections before, did you actually anticipate what happened during the election because this is what has been happening before. There was an election in 2021 and the same scenario happened; did you put any measures in place for this particular one?

Anyway, you asked me if we were expecting something different. The Labour Party right now is not that of the past. In the Labour Party, we believe in the grassroots, and with this in mind, we did everything we could. Of course, you know that the party does not have money to measure with up the ruling party. How many people do we have in the state today that we can say are elected in authority or holding offices that are working for the people. If we are talking of coming out to vote, a lot of people were ready to vote for the Labour Party. But after what happened in the 2023 general elections, a lot of people became very careful.

Nobody wants to die for Nigeria because nothing will happen if they do. It’s not as if even when they die, they will be remembered for the brilliant fight they put up in seeing that a new Nigeria emerges. So, of course, if you are a parent and you have only one child and your child wants to go and fight, you will not allow him or her to go out. Don’t forget that the #EndSARS issue is still fresh in people’s memory. People will say, ah, ‘it’s not for me, ‘it’s not for me, I don’t want to die for someone else.’ So, of course, when people saw signs of thugs at the polling units, they moved away. I was even told that they told them that ‘by the time you hear the sound of gun, you will run.’ What do you call that? Oppression, and intimidation of the highest order.

So you can imagine somebody that just wants to exercise his civic responsibility coming out to say, ‘I want to vote for the person of my choice,’ and then you are faced with thugs. Of course, that contributed to voter apathy that we’re talking about. And a lot of people, when they saw thugs, they turned back.

People told me that they were coming out to vote, but by the time they saw thugs, they said: ‘are we at this again?’ Everybody turned back. So we’re dealing with a government that is not the people’s choice. They know that they are not performing, but they are hell-bent on retaining power at all costs, no matter what it takes.

Now you say you believe in justice. Does that mean that you believe in the court to give you justice?

We’ll get there. But let’s say it as it is. Is it by being complacent that we will get justice? We can’t get justice like that. We can only get justice when we fight for it. Whichever way we want to fight for our rights, we want to fight for justice, for the truth, to make sure that a Nigeria that is for the people emerges, a new Nigeria. We’re going to court because that is the right thing to do. The logo of the Labour Party was absent in some ballot papers, and it was a deliberate attempt. Remember, the places where our logos were not available were mostly our strongholds.

LASIEC knew our strongholds, people came out, they were ready to vote, but they could not find any LASIEC officials around. So how can we get votes there. You know all these things, I kept moving round to find out what was happening. I kept sending the pictures and reports to the chairman of LASIEC, and she cannot say she’s not aware of them. I’m just really disappointed that under her nose, such criminality and total abuse of government machinery was used to hinder and suppress the people.

But I want to know your level of preparation for this election because the APC was saying that it’s like some other parties did not prepare for the election…

For Labour Party, we kept them on their toes. Even APC confessed that for the first time they spent money when they saw the way and manner Labour Party came out.

All over, in Amuwo Odofin, Eti Osa and some other places, people came out en masses. You see Labour Party being fully represented everywhere and that kept them jittery. That was why even their leaders came out to perpetrate all this evil we’re talking about.

Can you just mention one or two places where LASIEC officials failed to turn up specifically?

They gave me the report of Oshodi, and the same thing happened all over. If LASIEC was not prepared and up to the task, they shouldn’t have wasted people’s time, money and energy.

Would you say the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should start conducting local government elections, and what kind of reforms do you think should be done with our electoral system for true democracy?

I will say that LASIEC is not independent. It is a government machinery being used by the government to do whatever they want. So, as far as I’m concerned, LASIEC should be scrapped completely.

Should this happen across the states too, and what is your opinion about INEC conducting local government elections?

State electoral commissions should be scrapped across all states. Also, as bad as INEC is, they are much better than LASIEC, you cannot even compare the two. There is no comparison. They said if a woman does not try too husbands, she will never know the better one. INEC is a far cry from LASIEC. You cannot even compare INEC and LASIEC.

As the 2027 general elections are approaching, what efforts is the Labour Party making to ensure that there is unity in the party. 2027 elections will be organised by INEC, and a house that is divided against itself cannot stand? Also, what would be your decision if Peter Obi decides to defect to the APC or any other party?

Let me say this and let me be very clear about my position, one minute Peter Obi would say he is going to another party, the next minute, he is in the Labour Party. I’m sorry, I’m not a child. I came with a mindset of an ideology that Nigerians need to be delivered. As far as you are a credible leader that knows what you are doing, I will stand by you. I will work for you. I will do the right thing. But I’m not a product of people who are confused. Labour Party is still the same. It’s unfortunate that it has been infiltrated by all manner of people.

We have the transactional ones that are doing the bidding of their paymasters, like I said earlier. And then we have the ones that believe that they have a spirit of entitlement. However, we are putting everything in place to put our house in order. I think that is more important than any other thing. We had a meeting and we came with this resolve that the first thing is for us to keep our home.

When I mean home, I am talking of Lagos State, I’m not even looking at the national. This is where I live, so keeping Lagos State together is a task that must be accomplished. That is what I am looking at, nothing more. When we get to the bridge, we will cross it, when the leaders know where they are going, when they stop confusing the people, then we follow suit.

Would you advise Mr. Peter Obi to stay in the Labour Party?

Of course. Personally, I believe that Peter Obi knows that the grace of God showcased him in the Labour Party. And I would have expected him that whatever it takes to keep the house in order is what he should do instead of jumping from pillar to post, sorry to use that word.