Anthony Iwuoma
The Special Assistant on Public Communication to Alhaji Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP), Phrank Shaibu, has asked the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mr. Mahmood Yakubu, to remove the the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), in Lagos State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, because the credibility of the Lagos State REC “is seriously in doubt” and could taint the outcome of the 2023 general elections.
The Lagos REC had insisted on partnering with the Lagos State-controlled Parks Management Committee to distribute election materials on election day, an act Shaibu posited would undermine the credibility of the forthcoming elections in the state.
Agbaje had while addressing the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting in Lagos, said INEC had no option but to use the Lagos State Parks Management Committee led by Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, an APC member and staunch loyalist of the party’s presidential candidate, Asiwanu Bola Ahmed Tinubu, to distribute election materials and personnel in the state on election day.
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This, according to him, was because the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW, and the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria, RTEAN, had been banned in Lagos State.
Agbaje further argued that the commission was not more interested in drivers and vehicle owners, to meet up with the high volume of logistics needed for the elections than in the person or individual.
However, Shaibu in a statement described Agbaje’s reason for insisting on using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee as watery and curious.
“The law is clear that only a court has the power to proscribe an organisation. That was why the federal government had to go to court to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN),” Shaiubu argued.
“What Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did in Lagos State was to arbitrarily announce a ban on the activities of the NURTW because the organisation suspended MC Oluomo, the APC’s henchman. INEC must not promote illegality by working with a partisan organisation which is filled with APC members that are working for Bola Tinubu.
“How could such people be given sensitive materials to be distributed across Lagos on election day? This has already undermined the possibility of a free and fair election. INEC must sanction Mr. Agbaje for insisting on using MC Oluomo’s committee despite protests from members of the public.
“Recall that it was Mr. Agbaje who superintended over the fraudulent and violent Osun governorship rerun which produced Gboyega Oyetola as governor. US Consul General, John Bray was spot on when he stated, ‘we witnessed what appeared to be incidents of interference and intimidation of voters and heard reports of harassment or party monitors, journalists and domestic observers.
“Unfortunately, it is the same Agbaje, who could not effectively supervise a rerun in a few polling units that have been given the task of superintending the election in Nigeria’s largest state with over seven million registered voters. The election is doomed to fail if INEC doesn’t do the right thing by removing him.
“We remind the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, that this will be his last general election before the end of his tenure. We ask him to protect his legacy by removing Mr Segun Agbaje if he insists that MC Oluomo must be the one to handle sensitive INEC materials. This election must not only be fair but it must be seen to be fair as well.
“It is disheartening that the Lagos REC, Mr. Segun Agbaje, has begun to show open partisanship. We find it curious that it is the local governments considered opposition strongholds that were unable to get their PVCs.”
Shaiubu noted the importance of the 2023 elections to the destiny of Nigeria.
According to him: “Historians and analysts have described this 2023 general election as a watershed. The destiny of over 200 million people is at stake. INEC says it is ready to deliver a credible and free election but one weak link in the chain of command can undermine the entire process.
“We call on Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to remove the Lagos REC, Mr Agbaje, as his credibility is seriously in doubt. Again, we call on INEC not to use the MC Oluomo-led partisan organisation to distribute ballot papers on election day.”
