Oyekanmi dismissed the allegations against the Lagos REC, describing it as deliberate misinformation and distortion of facts.
By Jeffrey Agbo
Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Lagos State, Segun Agbaje, will not be redeployed over unfounded allegations, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.
Speaking with journalists on Wednesday, INEC Chairman’s Chief Press Secretary, Rotimi 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.
There have been demands for Agbaje’s removal over alleged mismanagement of the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in some parts of Lagos and engagement of Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo- led Lagos State Parks Management Committee to convey election materials.
Oyekanmi dismissed the allegations against the Lagos REC, describing it 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 Feb. 25, he will also superintend over the Governorship/State House of Assembly election holding on 11th March.
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“He is a conscientious, honest, dependable and hardworking REC. His integrity speaks for him in all the places where he had served.
“Let me break this down for you. During the recent Continuous Voter Registration that took place between June 2021 and July 2022, Lagos State under Agbaje registered the highest number of voters in the country – 585,629.
“On Jan. 27 this year, we announced that out of the 940,200 PVCs delivered to Lagos State as of that date, 839,720 PVCs representing 89.3 per cent had been collected.
“This debunks the allegation that the Lagos REC deliberately withheld the PVCs belonging to persons from a particular region of the country,” he said.
On the movement of election materials in Lagos, Oyekanmi said that INEC was engaging individual vehicle owners.
He said “the unions don’t have vehicles and even if they have some, they cannot possibly provide the number of vehicles that the commission requires to conduct the general election.
“Rather, the unions are made up of individuals that own vehicles. You have to negotiate with the vehicle owners and join the unions as witnesses and for accountability purposes.”
Oyekanmi reminded Nigerians that INEC had been conducting elections successfully in Lagos using individuals that own vehicles that met its specification.