Agbaje will remain Lagos REC for all elections: INEC

Despite the call for his removal as the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in charge of Lagos, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has insisted that Segun Agbaje would remain in the state and still conduct the general elections.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, Spokesman for INEC, disclosed this on Wednesday in Abuja.

“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,” Mr Oyekanmi said.

The electoral body’s insistence came as different critics have been accusing Mr Agbaje of being “biased” after he stated that Musiliu Akinsanya (aka MC Olumo)-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee have been contracted to convey election materials for the February 25 and March 15 poll.

Also, there have been demands for his removal over alleged mismanagement of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collection in some parts of Lagos.

In a recent interview, Mr Agbaje claimed that those who are yet to collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), in Lagos are ‘immigrants’ who came from South East to Lagos.

He also added that some of them registered twice.

But speaking further, Mr Oyekanmi dismissed the allegations against Mr Agbaje, describing them as unfounded and deliberate misinformation

He noted that the Lagos REC is an honest man, stressing that those calling for his redeployment should bury their thoughts.

“He (Agbaje) 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,” he said.

Mr Oyekanmi added that, “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 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.”

While explaining how INEC was planning to convey the election materials, Mr Oyekanmi said the electoral body was already engaging individual vehicle owners in the state.

According to him, the unions don’t have vehicles and even if they have, 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,” he added.