Rival parties clashMORE protests have continued to trail last Saturday's council polls in Lagos State as the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Nigeria's Peoples Party (ANPP) have been enmeshed in brickbats over the election.Protests and violence were reported in various parts of the state, particularly in Ikoyi, Badagry and Iyana-Ipaja. At Eti-Osa Local Council, the ACN and PDP supporters engaged in a free-for-all over an alleged stuffing of ballot papers in a diplomatic car belonging to a member of the PDP.It was also gathered that there were bloody clashes in Iyana-Ipaja and Badagry where two persons were feared dead and many others injured.While the ACN described the state's PDP as 'half clever swindlers that are desperate to employ childish blackmail and mere tricks to reap where they have no deposit', the PDP insisted that the election was rigged in favour of the ACN.For the ANPP, it said it is planning to challenge the conduct of the polls in court.The ACN urged the PDP to live with the reality that it was alien to Lagos as its awkward claims of electoral relevance have never been proven by the political reality in Lagos.In a statement by the party's Lagos State Publicity Secretary, Joe Igbokwe, the party said that the claim by the PDP that it won some local councils in last Saturday's election and its attempt to heat up the polity in the hope that it will be rewarded with favours it never merited was childish. It insisted that while the party awaited Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission's (LASIEC) official announcement of result on the local council polls, it still maintained that PDP does not exist in Lagos and does not have the goodwill to win one LCDA in the election.In the same vein, the State ACN Chairman, Henry Oladele Ajomale, has condemned what he called the lawless, undemocratic and unconstitutional acts by PDP supporters before and after the announcement of the result of last Saturday's election into the Ikoyi/Obalende Local Council Area.He added: 'We are compelled to remind the PDP that the election petition tribunal, rather than the streets, is the appropriate channel for those seeking electoral restitution.But in a statement issued by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Prof. Rufai Alkali, yesterday in Abuja, the party alleged rigging confirmed the fear of the party earlier expressed before the polls.'The PDP wishes to express its profound sadness and total disappointment with the conduct of the Local Council Elections in Lagos State at the weekend.'The massive rigging and manipulation of figures as well as the withholding of results by the ACN controlled LASIEC all go to expose the hypocrisy of the ACN which is quick to shout murder whenever they lose elections', the statement said.Noting that PDP had earlier alerted that here was a plan to rig the election, the party said: 'We had earlier alerted the people of Lagos State of deliberate measures put in place by the ACN to pre-determine the outcome of the exercise. While we have never doubted the ACN's capacity for mischief, the conduct of its officials as well as the staff of LASIEC in this election beats our widest imagination.'The PDP added that its agents that went to the field reported many cases of malpractice and called on the authority to release the withheld results of its stronghold. ''Our agents recorded cases of massive ballot stuffing, physical intimidation and clear cases of bias by the electoral umpire. We wish to place on record that some results, especially in areas considered PDP strongholds are still being withheld while the leaders of the ACN, in collusion with LASIEC officials are busy changing their figures. We therefore demand for the immediate release of all the results of the elections', the party demanded.
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