• No Gun Fights, Shop Burning, Market Closure
March 2024 will ever remain a memorable in the annals of Ladipo International Auto Spare Parts Market in Mushin, as the Ladipo Central Executive Committee of Auto Dealers Association (LACEC), the body that oversees activities in the market, with the permission of the state government closed all gates and barricaded all roads leading to the market aside stopping all trading activities at the fringe of the market to prevail on its members to participate in the March 6 election.

As early as 8.30am traders, especially those representing the various units that make up the 46 sections of the multi-billion market began to gather. Observers including the representatives of Lagos State government, Mushin local council, the various traders’ associations in the market and other stakeholders also began to converge.

Not minding the hot sun, the assemblage of observers, traders and stakeholders gradually grew in their numbers with all looking forward to the election holding that day.

By 10:00 am the accreditation commenced and in no time voting started. It was an open voting system that allowed for transparency and eschewed any form of manipulations.

According to chairman of LACEC Electoral Committee, Sam Opara, his committee adopted the system to make everyone including the observers to see who and who is voting and how the voting is going. Apart from this, we also adopted the collegiate system, whereby all independent sections and units will bring out their representative to vote for their chosen candidates.

Although, the number of representatives each unit is to bring is based on their financial strength and contributions to the development and growth of the market, the system encourages participatory democracy, as the headship of the units would have on their own discussed the candidates that would protect their interest and moved the market forward before coming to cast their votes.

“There are 26 candidates contesting for the various positions, but two out of the number are vying for the post of the president- general. The electoral officials are at a corner in the open space, while the observers that include the media, government officials, the civil society and the leaders of the different associates in the market are also at the open space to watch proceedings.

“We are doing all this to avoid any form of rigging, make the election credible and allow traders to elect those they feel are capable of leading them for the progress of all and the development and growth of the market. My team is working in collaboration of all the stakeholders to do all what we are doing because we need to make things work for all. The traders have come out en masse to support their candidates because they believe in what we are doing and know that our committee will give them a credible election,” he said.

Before 2.00pm the election was over and the ballot boxes were opened and ballot papers counted. From the counting, the former general secretary of the market, Prince Africanus Ogudoro polled 119 votes to beat Emmanuel Chinweike who had 51 votes, to be elected as president-general. Other elected officers included Amaechi Nneji (Assistant General Secretary), Valentine Ugochukwu (Financial Secretary) Michael Eriugo (Treasurer), Chimezie Richard (Asst. Provost), Michael Okorie (Welfare Officer), among others.

While other positions were filled, the post of the general secretary remained vacant. Speaking on this, the chairman of the electoral committee, Opara, said the position would be filled through a by-election to be conducted by the new executive when they settle down to work, adding that his committee knowingly left it because the outgoing executives are investing the candidates to contest for the position.

With his victory, Prince Ogudoro and his executive will steer the affairs of the market for the next three years, when another election would be conducted.

Commending the electoral body for the free and fair election, the President-General elect said, he was going to continue with the good work of his predecessor to make sure the make moves forward in line with the local and state government policies.

“My administration will look into some of the policies of my predecessor with the view of continuing with the ones that are in tandem with the local and state governments’ policies and also look into ways of not overburdening the traders. I will put up structures to see that the relatively peace, stability and progress experienced in the past years are not cut short,” he said.

Ogudoro promised to sanitise the market of touts and all criminal elements masquerading as traders, stressing that such elements are the ones tarnishing the images of Ladipo traders.

He also promise to work with all the established market task forces to stop artisans whose activities are contributing to the blockage of the canal and also those that constitute nuisance on the service lane of Ladipo Bus Stop on Oshodi-Isolo Express Way and warn they desist from doing so.

Speaking on the outcome of the election, the former President-General of the market, Jude Chikelu Nwankwo, said this is the first time in the history of the market that a credible election was conducted.

According to him, the result was generally accepted to the extent that the rancour, gunfights and other vices that usually trail such announcement did come up. He noted that it is usually this acrimony that do lead to market closure, burning of shops, lost of lives and goods worth hundreds of million naira.

Nwankwo disclosed that during his tenure he fought hard to dismantle the activities of cult groups and also checked those that ferment trouble in the market for there to be peace and progress in the market.

While most of the traders and observers were commending the electoral committee for a work well done, Emmanuel Chinweike was at a corner shouting foul play, alleging that the electoral committee connived with some traders to rig the election in favour of his opponent, Prince Africanus Ogudoro.

He disclosed that the electoral committee chairman, Sam Opara, intentionally refused to publish the names of the contestants two weeks to the election for voters to know those they are to vote for and also for the contestants to know the strength of their units, saying such denial put some traders in the dark as to who their representatives were and also made some of the contestants not to be adequately prepared in terms of strategising with other contestants and also to campaign for votes.

He also alleged that Opara shut the general Whatsapp group, a day to the election, which according to him, was not proper, especially as members were looking forward to hearing from his committee on what to do the next day.

According to Chinweike, the election was not free and fair, as it had a lot of irregularities, which are detrimental to equity and vows to challenge the result in court.

For the Baba Oloja of Ladipo Market, Eze Igwe Monday Lawrence, there can never be a perfect situation, even if the election was conducted by angels human beings would still complain of irregularities, but as far as I am concern, the election was the freest and fairest that I have ever witnessed in the market and I commend the organisers.

“This is the only election that has been conducted, where the contestants did not end up fighting one another and the market closed. It is the only election where all the units are represented and traders came out en masse to vote. This has never happened before. In fact, the chairman of the electoral committee and his team has beaten the market’s record and set in motion how election should go as from now on in the market and it is on this ground that I say anybody that is not pleased with the result should go to court,” he said.