Lagos REC in the Eye of the Storm
For taking steps considered at variance with the acts of neutrality required of an electoral umpire, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, has come under fire, with opposition parties calling for his redeployment but the Independent National Electoral Commission thinks otherwise, Ejiofor Alike reports
Since he conducted the September 2018 governorship election in Osun State, which was concluded with a controversial rerun, not much was heard of Olusegun Agbaje until he resumed duties in Lagos State as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), and made alleged controversial statements and decisions.
Before he was posted to Lagos State, he had also served in Ogun State.
Agbaje recently stirred the hornet’s nest when he reportedly described the South-easterners resident in Lagos State as “those that migrated and settled in Lagos to escape insecurity in the South-east.”
His statement on a live television programme was in response to an allegation that millions of South-east voters were denied Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) in the just conducted PVC distribution in the state.
There was an earlier allegation that batches of carefully sorted out PVCs with ethno-religious marks bearing the names of easterners were allegedly carted away from INEC custody and dumped in large numbers inside gutters and streets along the Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Many people from the South-east were also allegedly denied the right to register in Lagos during the voters’ registration exercise.
But speaking to a national daily in July 2022, Agbaje debunked the allegation, saying: “I have asked them to show me the centre or local government for me to personally do my findings but nobody came with proof. There is nowhere Igbo people in Lagos would be denied registration under my watch.”
Agbaje, who should have also used last Wednesday’s TV programme to clear all these allegations, however messed up the opportunity with what was perceived as his anti-Igbo statements, which he has not debunked till date.
Many have also faulted his decision to use the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee, headed by transport kingpin, Musiliu Akinsanya, aka MC Oluomo, a member of the Presidential Campaign Council of All Progressives Congress (APC), for the distribution of election materials.
Agbaje argued that the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) could not provide the vehicles needed for the elections and that it would be illegal to work with the proscribed NURTW.
But the Lagos State branch of NARTO in a statement issued by its Chairman, Mr. Kayode Odunowo, said contrary to the position of the REC, the association had enough vehicles.
NURTW has also punctured Agbaje’s claim and appointed coordinators to arrange transportation of polling materials and personnel for the forthcoming general election in Lagos, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states where its activities were banned.
In a letter to INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, by the General Secretary of NURTW, Kabiru Ado Yau, the union said it had appointed as coordinators Rafiu Olohunwa, Oluwatoyin Olaoye, Rauf Fakorede and Abideen Olajide for Lagos, Ondo, Osun and Oyo states, respectively, to organise drivers for the exercise.
Reacting to Agbaje’s alleged partisanship, the Labour Party (LP) senatorial candidate in Lagos West, Hon. Moshood Salvador, has called for his removal.
On its part, Intersociety, a rights activist, has demanded his sack in a letter written to the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood.
The letter was signed by Intersociety’s Board Chairman, Emeka Umeagbalasi; Head of Democracy and Good Governance Programme, Chinwe Umeche; Head of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law, Obianuju Igboeli, and Head of Campaign and Publicity Department, Chidinma Udegbunam
Intersociety said it sought his immediate removal based on “live and verifiable video clips which saturated the social media spaces showing systematic and orchestrated plots by the REC to deprive the Nigerian citizens of South-east resident in Lagos their PVCs and rights to participate and vote in the February 25, 2023 presidential poll.”
Also reacting, a Christian group in Lagos, Leaders After God’s Own Spirit Initiating A New State (LAGOSIANS), in a statement signed by the group’s leader, Bolaji Akinyemi, accused Agbaje of complicity in a plan to disenfranchise Igbos in Lagos, and urged the INEC chairman to remove him.
“In a reckless political communication known only with thugs, he made it clear that the reason they cannot have their PVC is that many of them are from the South-east part of the country, inferring that they are immigrants,” Akinyemi said.
He said there is fear of an inconclusive election as happened in the Osun State governorship vote in 2018.
In his reaction, the presidential candidate of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has also called on INEC to immediately remove him for alleged partisanship.
In a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, the former vice president said it was curious that Agbaje was insisting on using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee, headed by transport kingpin, Oluomo, a member of the presidential campaign council of the APC.
Atiku described as watery Agbaje’s excuse that INEC would not be able to use the NURTW because it was banned in the state.
The statement said, “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.”
Atiku noted that over 17,000 Nigerians had signed a petition on Change.Org titled, “Remove Olusegun Agbaje as the Lagos INEC Commissioner for Incompetence and Bigotry”.
However, while Agbaje has described the call for his resignation as a waste of time, INEC has said that it would not redeploy him, describing the allegations against him as unfounded.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi told journalists on Wednesday in Abuja that those demanding Agbaje’s redeployment should perish the thought.
Oyekanmi implored the two political parties calling for Agbaje’s redeployment to respect the boundaries of the relationship between the commission and all political parties.
He described the allegations against Agbaje as deliberate misinformation and distortion of facts.
“Let me make one thing clear upfront. Mr. Agbaje will not be removed as the REC for Lagos over unfounded allegations.
“He will not only conduct the Presidential/National Assembly election scheduled for February 25, he will also supervise the Governorship/State House of Assembly election holding on 11th March.
“He is a conscientious, honest, dependable and hardworking REC. His integrity speaks for him in all the places where he had served,” Oyekanmi explained.
With two out of the top three political parties calling for Agbaje’s redeployment, INEC may have courted controversy with its position on the matter. Electoral umpires should not only claim to be neutral but should be transparently seen to be neutral by all the relevant parties in the electoral process.
