Atiku's aide demands removal of Lagos REC

Phrank Shaibu, an aide to the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has called for the removal of the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos, Olusegun Agbaje, over the commission’s partnership with the state-controlled Parks Management Committee to distribute election materials across the state on election day.

In a statement on Tuesday, Mr Shaibu, who is the special assistant on public communication to Atiku, asked the INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, to remove Mr Agbaje because the credibility of the Lagos State REC “is seriously in doubt”

On Tuesday, Mr Agbaje while addressing the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) meeting in Lagos, said INEC had no option but to engage the Lagos State Parks Management Committee to distribute election materials and personnel in the state on election day.

He said the commission was not concerned about the person Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Oluomo) but about individual drivers and vehicle owners, to meet up with the high volume of logistics needed for the elections.

Responding to the development, Mr Shaibu stated it was curious that Mr Agbaje had insisted on using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee led by Mr Akinsanya, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council.

Mr Shaibu, however, described as watery Mr 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.”

Mr Shaibu recalled that Mr Agbaje was the REC who superintendent over the 2018 governorship election rerun in Osun State which was criticized by international observers groups including the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union.

He added, “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.”

He added, “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.

Mr Shaibu further stated, “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.”