The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Atiku Abubakar, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos State, Olusegun Agbaje, for alleged partisanship and compromise.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu which was obtained by Africa Today News, New York, Atiku pointed out that it was curious that the REC is insisting on using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee, led by an All Progressives Congress (APC) chieftain, Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, to distribute materials for the general election in Lagos State.
Shaibu dismissed Agbaje’s explanation that INEC would not be able to use members of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) for distribution of electoral materials because the two unions had been banned in Lagos State.
‘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).’
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He further added; ‘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. 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 Agbaje for insisting on using MC Oluomo’s committee despite protests from the public,’ he said.
Shaibu added that election monitoring groups had dismissed the 2018 Osun State governorship rerun superintended by Agbaja as allegedly not passing democratic tests.
‘It is disheartening that Agbaje has begun to show open partisanship. We find it curious that it is the local governments considered as opposition strongholds that were unable to get their PVCs.
‘Unfortunately, it is the same Agbaje, who could not effectively supervise a rerun in a few polling units that has 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.
‘Historians and analysts have described this 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 INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, Mahmoud Yakubu, to remove 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.
‘We remind Yakubu that this will be his last general election before the end of his tenure. We ask him to protect his legacy by removing 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,’ he said.
Africa Today News, New York reports that the next Presidential elections will hold in about 17 days.