Group alleges INEC staff holding meetings with state officials
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
An alarm has been raised by Concerned Citizen in Sokoto State (CCSS) that Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) personnel are allegedly meeting with officials of the Sokoto government to rig the governorship vote.
CCSS National Coordinator Abubakar Sokoto said the group has petitioned INEC headquarters to replace officials who allegedly participated in meetings with state officials.
“Reports going around is that some INEC officials in Sokoto North were seen holding meetings with the officials of the state government. We are therefore calling on the state Resident Electoral Commissioner [REC] to investigate the allegation since the saying, ‘no smoke without fire is real.’
“Swapping officers from areas where those meetings were alleged to have taken place to other local governments or units will make the election credible. As a matter of fact, we have already sent our petition to the National Chairman of INEC.”
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Related articles:
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American Institute faults INEC on BVAS, deployment of voting materials
Atiku escalates calls for INEC to remove Lagos REC Agbaje over Tinubu bias
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Youths to shun violence
CCSS implored youths in the state to shun violence, saying whoever would win the governorship vote has already been ordained by God, per reporting by Daily Post.
“Let us remind our youths who remain our sons, daughters, brothers and sisters, that we want them to think twice and not allow anyone to use them to commit criminal acts that may put them in serious calamity.
“God has already ordained who will become our next governor and no act of intimidation or harassment can change the destiny.”
Agbaje’s ‘genocidal Igbo comments’ elicit calls for his removal as Lagos REC
International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) last month demanded the removal of Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Segun Agbaje for his anti-Igbo comments broadcast live on national television.
More than 17,000 Nigerians signed a petition on Change.Org titled, ‘Remove Olusegun Agbaje as the Lagos INEC Commissioner for Incompetence and Bigotry’.
Intersociety, a rights activist, demanded his sack in a letter written to INEC Chairman Yakubu Mahmood, citing how Agbaje incited genocide and ethnic cleansing against Ndigbo in Lagos.
The letter was signed by Intersociety Board Chair Emeka Umeagbalasi, Head of Democracy and Good Governance Program Chinwe Umeche, Head of Civil Liberties and Rule of Law Obianuju Igboeli, and Head of Campaign and Publicity Department Chidinma Udegbunam
The complaint arose from the anti-Igbo comments Agbaje made on Channels Television.
Intersociety 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 Feb 25, 2023 Presidential Poll.
“Apart from genocidally referring to them as ‘South-East migrants’, the REC did not hide his hatred of the South-East residents in Lagos by denying them PVCs under frivolous circumstances.
“As if these were not enough, the REC ended up vicariously, if not directly, inciting native residents preparatory to unleashing ‘Election Day and Post-Election Day’ ethnic cleansing against the South-East residents in the State.
“He also hatefully lied unpardonably by describing the decades-old South-East residents in Lagos as ‘those that migrated and settled in Lagos to escape insecurity in the South-East’
“Not long ago, batches of carefully sorted out PVCs with ethno-religious marks bearing Igbo and other Eastern names were carted away from INEC custody and scattered and dumped in large numbers inside gutters and streets along Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
“In 2015 and 2019, organized group violence was unleashed on Igbo citizens’ resident in Lagos by loyalists of the leading political actors in Lagos for conscientiously voting for candidates of their choice.
“In the 2019 Presidential Poll, Igbo properties including homes and market stores as well as polling units in their areas were targeted, attacked and wantonly destroyed, including being razed or set ablaze.”
