Agbaje however said the commission was more concerned with issues of motor parks administration in the state for the effective delivery of its election duties and not MC Oluomo.
The Presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party, Atiku Abubakar, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to remove the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos, Olusegun Agbaje, for alleged partisanship and compromise.
Former chairman of the defunct National Union of Road Transport Workers in Lagos, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo had recently requested from the Lagos INEC the responsibility of distributing electoral materials on Election Day across the state.
Speaking on Tuesday during the inter-agency consultative committee on election security (ICCES) meeting, Agbaje insisted that the commission would be using the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee led by MC Oluomo, who is a member of the All Progressives Congress Presidential Campaign Council.
Babajide Sanwo-Olu, governor of Lagos state, had set up the parks committee after banning the operations of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN).
Agbaje however said the commission was more concerned with issues of motor parks administration in the state for the effective delivery of its election duties and not MC Oluomo.
Meanwhile, MC Oluomo has publicly described himself as a loyalist of the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Bola Tinubu.
In October 2018, MC Oluomo, in an Instagram post, said Tinubu owned him and the APC and that whatever he (Tinubu) wanted was what he (MC Oluomo) would support.
He wrote on his Instagram page, “I am an Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu Jagaban loyalist, I wear the Jagaban jersey, I've been a loyalist since 1999, the first mecca i went is through his execellence in the year 2000, moreso, he as done alot for me, he made me who i am today our relationship has been was very cordial and strong in the area that I grew up in.
“So I'm one of his loyalist that have strong believe in him, he own the party and any where his interest belong I Musiliu Ayinde Akinsanya Mc oloumo belong. I and my people in Oshodi formerly endorse HE Akinwunmi Ambode for 2nd term because his government is still working in the shadow of the party national leader, but now the case is vice-visa i have to follow the interest of Bola Ahmend Tinubu and the party decision.
“If Asiwaju Bola Ahmend Tinubu again says is no more Babajide Sanwoolu but someone else, so shall it be.”
Reacting in a statement by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, Atiku said it was strange that Agbaje insisted on using the parks committee led by the APC presidential council member.
He described as watery Agbaje’s excuse that INEC would not be able to use the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) because they had been banned in Lagos State.
The statement read, “The law is clear that only a court has the power to proscribe an organisation. That was why the Federal Government had to go to court to proscribe the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Islamic Movement of Nigeria (IMN).
“What Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu did in Lagos State was to arbitrarily announce a ban on the activities of the NURTW because the organisation suspended MC Oluomo, the APC’s henchman. INEC must not promote illegality by working with a partisan organisation which is filled with APC members that are working for Bola Tinubu.
“How could such people be given sensitive materials to be distributed across Lagos on election day? This has already undermined the possibility of a free and fair election. INEC must sanction Mr. Agbaje for insisting on using MC Oluomo’s committee despite protests from members of the public.”
Shaibu recalled that Agbaje was the REC who superintended over the fraudulent 2018 governorship election rerun in Osun State which even the United States, the United Kingdom and the European Union discredited.
He added, “Recall that it was Mr. Agbaje who superintended over the fraudulent and violent Osun governorship rerun which produced Gboyega Oyetola as governor. US Consul General, John Bray was spot on when he stated, 'We witnessed what appeared to be incidents of interference and intimidation of voters and heard reports of harassment or party monitors, journalists and domestic observers.”
Shaibu noted that even election monitoring groups like the Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) dismissed the Osun rerun as “fraudulent and anti-democratic”.
He added, “Unfortunately, it is the same Agbaje, who could not effectively supervise a rerun in a few polling units that has been given the task of superintending the election in Nigeria’s largest state with over seven million registered voters. The election is doomed to fail if INEC doesn’t do the right thing by removing him.
“We remind the INEC Chairman, Prof Mahmoud Yakubu, that this will be his last general election before the end of his tenure. We ask him to protect his legacy by removing Mr. Segun Agbaje if he insists that MC Oluomo must be the one to handle sensitive INEC materials. This election must not only be fair but it must be seen to be fair as well.”
Shaibu noted that as of Wednesday morning, over 17,000 Nigerians had signed a petition on Change.Org titled, ‘Remove Olusegun Agbaje as the Lagos INEC Commissioner for Incompetence and Bigotry’.
Agbaje has been under fire for the last week following his comments over the inability of a large number of non-indigenes in Lagos to vote.
While explaining the development on Channels Television, Agbaje, who was visibly disgusted, stated that people of the South-East migrated to Lagos and engaged in double registration hence their inability to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVC).
Responding to the development, Shaibu stated, “It is disheartening that the Lagos REC, Mr Segun Agbaje, has begun to show open partisanship. We find it curious that it is the local governments considered as opposition strongholds that were unable to get their PVCs.
“Historians and analysts have described this 2023 general election as a watershed. The destiny of over 200 million people is at stake. INEC says it is ready to deliver a credible and free election but one weak link in the chain of command can undermine the entire process.
“We call on Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu to remove the Lagos REC, Mr. Agbaje, as his credibility is seriously in doubt. Again, we call on INEC not to use the MC Oluomo-led partisan organisation to distribute ballot papers on election day.”