Political parties in Lagos have rejected the new nomination fees set by the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission for the upcoming local government elections.
The election is scheduled for July 12, 2025, but tension is rising after LASIEC announced that chairmanship candidates must pay N150,000, vice-chairmanship candidates N75,000, and councillorship candidates N50,000. However, female candidates and persons living with disabilities are not required to pay.
The announcement was made public shortly before the Inaugural Chairmen’s Dialogue hosted by News Central TV in Lagos.
Speaking at the event, the Lagos State Chairperson of the Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Temilola Akinade, said the fees are unfair.
“The first problem we have is with LASIEC,” Akinade told *Daily Trust*. “We all said that the form should be free or the prices should stay the same as in the last election. But this morning, everything just changed.”
She added, “They posted that the chairman will pay N150,000, the vice will pay N75,000 while the councillor will pay N50,000. People living with disability and women will be free, but we’ve advised them in the past to make this free or keep it as before. So we need to get back to them.”
Akinade said the political parties would meet and agree on a joint position regarding the fees.
Other party leaders at the event also raised concerns about the general state of democracy in Lagos.
The Lagos Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Philips Aivoji, and the Labour Party (LP) Chairperson, Pastor Dayo Ekong, were among those who expressed fears that the state is moving towards a one-party system.
Pastor Ekong recalled the Labour Party’s experience during the 2023 general elections.
“During the last election, we know what we went through,” she said. “In the aftermath of the election, they still went after the opposition, but we have said that we in the Labour Party cannot be silenced.”
At the end of the meeting, all the parties called on the federal government to allow the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to take over the conduct of local government elections nationwide.
They said this would bring more fairness, transparency, and trust to the process.
