By G9ija
On Monday, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council expressed concern over the alleged collaboration between the Independent National Electoral Commission and Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, Chairman of Lagos State Parks Management Committee.
According to the council, this alliance suggests that the electoral body is not adequately prepared for the upcoming general election.
The Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council (PCC) has called for the removal of Olusegun Agbaje, Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos, due to his alleged biased and partisan comments.
Akin Osuntokun, Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, voiced these concerns on behalf of the Obi-Datti PCC during a meeting in Abuja on Monday.
During a press briefing in Abuja on Monday, Akin Osuntokun, Director General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, stated that when reports surfaced of the Independent National Electoral Commission engaging the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee led by MC Oluomo to distribute sensitive election materials, the Obi-Datti Presidential Campaign Council did not initially take it seriously.
This was due to MC Oluomo’s close affiliation with Bola Tinubu, the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress.
He said, “We initially took the allegation with a pinch of salt, believing that INEC was conscious of red lines in these elections and that common sense and logic would not permit such arbitrariness.
“However, as days passed by, it became clear to us that the news report was correct, especially as the explanation given by INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, does not go far enough in refuting this association.”
Akin Osuntokun described INEC’s decision to entrust the transportation of election materials to political party agents as a provocative and unprecedented action in Nigeria’s electoral history.
“In addition, recent public statements by the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Olusegun Agbaje, bordering on sectional bias and resentment, have shown overwhelming partisanship on his side, and therefore, he cannot be trusted with the onerous task of conducting an unbiased election in a volatile state like Lagos.
“It is therefore, against the above backdrop, that we demand an immediate cancellation of the logistics contract between INEC and MC Oluomo.
“We also want an immediate redeployment and blacklisting from any election duty, anywhere, of the Lagos REC, Olusegun Agbaje, whose recent actions have raised doubts about his suitability as an election supervisor.” He added.