The governorship candidate of Labour Party in Lagos State, Architect Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, has condemned in strong terms the conducts of the Independent Electoral Commission, the Lagos State Resident Electoral Officer, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje and the ruling party, APC over their alleged use of thugs, unruly conducts and compromise against the Labour Party.
Gbadebo made this call on Sunday, February 26, during a Media Briefing to highlight some of the anomalies encountered by Labour during the Saturday 25th February Presidential and National Assembly election across the country.
Speaking, he appreciated Nigerians who thronged out en mass as early as 6am and waited till late hours of the day to make sure that they voted and their votes counted, even in spite of untold violence and intimidations meted against them.
“The turnout of voters in Lagos State was unprecedented and has never been recorded in decades”.
However, recalling some of the incidences undermined the elections in some parts of the state, Gbadebo said, “INEC Lagos State and some politicians are determined to set the nation on fire, young people have spoken and they spoke loud and clear, they voted and stayed behind to defend their votes even up to the late hours of the day when I went to home yesterday. He said
“The irregularities and intimidations across the Lagos State yesterday is a disgrace to INEC. I’m therefore saying categorically clear that any attempt to undermine the wishes of these young minds will set this country on fire. I call on the President, Mr. Muhammadu Buhari and the international community for urgent intervention to restore hope and the mandate of the people across the country. There’s a need to protect the votes of many Nigerians that voted yesterday in hope for a better Nigeria in a presumed electoral system that would see their votes count”. He continued
“We’ve found out that INEC officials were specifically instructed not to upload Presidential results but return the un-uploaded BIVAS devices to the INEC office. As at 4pm yesterday at my Polling Unit we were insisting that they upload the Presidential results only to find out that even at that time the INEC portal is not open for results transmissions. Secondly, the INEC officers said they don’t have the codes for the uploading, with all the funds that were devoted for the BIVAS devices, how they couldn’t transmit results from polling units to the INEC server.” He fumed
Gbadebo further said that because INEC compromised to trauncate the wishes of the Nigerian people, in connivance with their paymasters, they overwrote results in areas like Apapa to favour the APC, where INEC officials are using tip ex to alter the results, rewrite and uploaded them in contrast to the original results obtained yesterday.
There were conflicts at the Oniru and Oba Elegusin palaces, Aguda in Surulere, Mafoluku – Oshodi, Fagba junction and Abule-Egba – Ifako Ijaiye, Tejuoso, LASU and across other parts of the state, there were all sorts of intimidations against the Labour Party in connivance with the ruling party to suppress voters across the state.
“They key of this election is electronic transmission of results which did not happen yesterday. They returned back to INEC of 2019 were the results at the polling units are changed before it gets to the LG collection centres. People reposed confidence in INEC with the hope that the BIVAS system will usher in a new direction of electoral transparency, credible, free and fair election, but the reverse seem to be the case now.
“In summary, what happened in Lagos yesterday is not a credible election in any way and we have video evidences to support these claims. This is not going to stand and we will not rest in our oars”, he concluded.” He concluded.
Obviously angry state chairman of Labour Party, Pastor Dayo Ekong reiterated the call for Mr. President to as a matter of urgency intervene in Lagos election controversies and call the Resident Electoral Officer, Mr. Agbaje and his team to order while urging the Nigerian Police Force to stand up in defense of the Nigerian electorate whom they already disappointed on the Lagos ill-fated election day.
She equally noted that money failed Nigerian politicians this time around as Nigerian defied the ugly situations in the country to turn out their good numbers to choose leader for themselves in Labour Party’s Peter Obi.
Ekong said a case study was the woman that was stabbed at Surulere who went to get first aid and returned to cast her votes inspite of the bleeding, pains and anguish and so these efforts should not be undermined by INEC’s insensitivity and compromise.
