A former Lagos State Deputy Governor, Mrs Adejoke Orelope-Adefulire, has urged the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to increase its staff capacity to forestall delays during elections in the state.

Orelope-Adefulire, the Senior Special Assistant to the President of Sustainable Development Goals, (SDGs), said this on Saturday, while casting her vote at Ward E, Polling unit 059, at Egbeda.

The former deputy governor, who arrived at her polling unit earlier, had to return before being able to cast her vote at 12.20 p.m.

Orelope-Adefulire urged LASIEC to involve more officials voting exercises in the future to prevent delays in the future.

“We noticed some delays in the distribution of items materials to the polling units, and we had to call the attention of LASIEC at Yaba because we cannot interfere and do what they are doing.

“There is a need for LASIEC to get more hands, to prevent whatever it is that caused the delay of the distribution of voting materials.

“So far, I think there has been an improvement because, now, almost all the units are being supplied with materials.

“I pray that God will give us the weather to be able to vote because that is another thing that can disrupt the elections,” Orelope-Adefulire said.

She also reiterated the need for eligible voters to come out and exercise their civic rights in spite of the delays.

“Some people have come and gone, I hope that they come back again, because I think that it is our responsibility to vote, and in doing that, we would have succeeded in voting for the candidate of our choice who we believe will perform incredibly well.

So far, so good. It is still very early to decide or to say that the turnout is low or high with what we experienced in the morning.
“I think that everything will be fine. I think LASIEC should extend the time of the voting due to the delay in the morning, but that should be at their own discretion,” she said