Agbaje wants INEC to release results immediately

Agbaje

The Governorship Candidate of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) in Lagos, Mr. Jimi Agbaje, has made allegations of ongoing manipulation of the results of last Saturday's elections and called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately release them.

Agbaje, who addressed a Press Conference in his campaign office on Ikorodu Road, Lagos, wondered why 48 hours after polls ended, the commission still failed to release all results. 

He said: "As I speak today, we have a situation where results are being delayed. It is two days now and results are not being released in Lagos State. And they are not being released in  areas where we, PDP, have strength. And that is deliberate. We have a situation where results are being tampered with. That is not going to be acceptable to us. We will not accept results that have been tampered with in Lagos State."

According to the Member of the House of Representatives for Oshodi-Isolo 1 Federal Constituency, Honourable Mutiu Shadimu, who was at the press briefing, voters in his constituency had been intimidated on Saturday by hoodlums led by the Treasurer of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo.

The same gang had also prevented traders from opening their shops on Monday.

According to Agbaje, INEC officials' delay in releasing voting figures was unpalatable and was an extension of the faulty conduct of elections in several polling areas throughout Lagos. 

His words: "The problems started from the polling units. The guidelines were very clear, that after election and counting of votes, election results are supposed to be pasted on the wall at the polling unit. We have no reports that election results were pasted anywhere in Lagos State. That was the beginning of the problem.

"At the collation centres, we had a lot of intimidation of our agents. The ruling party had a multiplicity of party agents representing it. We had a situation where officails of the Lagos State government showed up and were represented in their numbers against the lone voices of our agents. We had a situation where our collation agents were arrested, leaving us unrepresented at the collation stage. That again is not acceptable us. 

"We go back to the election day, where in a lot of cases, we had a situation where the card readers did not function, including my own voting unit. It created a situation where the electoral agents were unable to verify the identity of voters vis-a-vis the PVCs presented.

"Now we are calling on security agents to bring to book those who caused the mayhem in Okota, Coker Aguda and several other places in Lagos State. And that is very important. If we are going to talk about democracy, then we have to practise the culture. It means that everybody will play his part. Voters will come and vote and we have assured them that their votes count. 

"Where we disenfranchise many voters then we are just playing lip service to our democracy. We have places where not less than 37 polling units in one local government have their votes cancelled and stolen. And this was done very openly; it is on camera."

Corroborating Jimi Agbaje was the Member of the House of Representatives for Oshodi-Isolo 1 Federal Constituency, Honourable Mutiu Shadimu, who accused APC of employing hoodlums led by the Treasurer of the National Union of Road Transport Workers, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, to wreak havoc on several polling units in the council.

Shadimu said traders thought to be loyal to PDP were being attacked and prevented from opening their shops in the popular Oshodi Market.

According to Agbaje, results at the party's disposal showed that PDP won in Eti-Osa and Ajeromi-Ifelodun, where results are yet to be officially annouced.

"As we speak, there are games going on in INEC, We don't have access to collation centres. We are being deprived of our own representation, and that cannot be fair or acceptable," he said.