INEC: Lagos REC will not be removed — allegations against him unfounded

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will not redeploy Segun Agbaje, the resident electoral commissioner (REC) for Lagos state.

There have been calls for Agbaje’s removal following his comment that the electoral commission has no option other than to work with the parks management committee in Lagos to distribute election materials in the state.

The Lagos parks management committee is chaired by Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo.

Agbaje’s statement generated mixed reactions, including from Phrank Shaibu, an aide to Atiku Abubakar, the presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who said working with the Lagos parks management committee would “promote illegality”, as the committee is a “partisan organisation which is filled with APC members”.

In an interview on Wednesday, Rotimi Oyekanmi, chief press secretary to the INEc chairperson, said there is no reason for Agbaje to be removed from Lagos.

“Let me make one thing clear upfront. Mr Agbaje will not be removed as the REC for Lagos over unfounded allegations,” NAN quoted Oyekanmi as saying.

“He will not only conduct the presidential and national assembly elections scheduled for February 25, he will also supervise the governorship and state house of assembly elections to be held on 11th March.

“He is a conscientious, honest, dependable, and hardworking REC. His integrity speaks for him in all the places where he has 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 January 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 percent 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.

“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 then have to negotiate with the vehicle owners and join the unions as witnesses and for accountability purposes.”