2023: Atiku Demands Removal Of Lagos REC By INEC

The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has called on INEC to remove Olusegun Agbaje as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos State.

The Special Assistant on Public Communication to Atiku, Phrank Shaibu, who made this known in a statement on Wednesday said it was curious that Agbaje had insisted on using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee to distribute sensitive electoral materials in the state.

The group is led by Musiliu Akinsanya, known as MC Oluomo, a member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council and a supporter of APC presidential candidate.

Shaibu dismissed Agbaje’s excuse that INEC would not be able to use the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) because they had been barred in Lagos State.

He stated, “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).

“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.”

Shaibu noted that even election monitoring groups like the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) dismissed the Osun rerun as “fraudulent and anti-democratic”.

"We remind the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud 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.”

Shaibu noted that as of Wednesday morning, over 17,000 Nigerians had signed a petition on Change.Org titled, ‘Remove Olusegun Agbaje as the Lagos INEC Commissioner for Incompetence and Bigotry’.

Agbaje has been under fire for the last one week following his comments over the inability of a large number of non-indigenes in Lagos to vote.

While explaining the development on Channels Television, Agbaje, stated that people of the Southeast migrated to Lagos and engaged in double registration hence their inability to get their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).