Members of the Lagos State House of Assembly on Thursday called on Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu to direct the Lagos State Independent Electoral Commission (LASIEC) to conduct by-elections in three wards where councillors died last year.
The resolution was reached during plenary following a motion raised under personal explanation by the lawmaker representing Mushin I, Hon. Nurudeen Akinsanya.
Akinsanya explained that the sudden deaths of three councillors in Mushin, Somolu and Ibeju-Lekki Local Council areas in 2025 had created legislative vacuums in the affected wards, leaving residents without representation at the council level.
He lamented that the continued absence of elected councillors had denied constituents effective participation in local governance, stressing that constitutional requirements for conducting by-elections into the affected legislative seats had already been met.
Contributing to the debate, the lawmaker representing Mushin II, Hon. Yinka Esho, and his Alimosho II counterpart, Hon. Kehinde Joseph, supported Akinsanya’s position and urged the House to formally call on the governor to direct LASIEC to conduct the by-elections.
Following the deliberations, the Speaker of the House, Rt. Hon. Mudashiru Obasa, directed the Clerk of the House, Barr. Olalekan Onafeso, to write to the governor conveying the resolution of the Assembly.
It will be recalled that three councillors died shortly after being sworn in last year in Ibeju-Lekki Local Government, Somolu Local Government and Odi-Olowo Local Council Development Area.
In Ibeju-Lekki Local Government, the councillor representing Ward C1, Oluwakemi Rufai, died on August 12, 2025, while the councillor representing Ward F in Somolu Local Government, Basirat Oluwakemi Mayabikan, passed away on September 21, 2025.
Similarly, the councillor representing Ward C3 in Odi-Olowo LCDA, Zainab Shotayo Kosoko, died on August 19, 2025, at the age of 30.
