The Lagos State governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Mr Jimi Agbaje, has accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State of "grand plans" to rig the polls slated for March 28 and April 11, 2015.Agbaje made the accusation while addressing party members and supporters at his campaign rally in Shomolu, Lagos today.
The PDP candidate said that he and his party had unearthed plans by the APC and INEC to use the latter's adhoc staff, including teachers and civil staff, to rig the polls in APC's favour.
He cited the recent sack of two ad-hoc staff of INEC on the excuse that they were preventing non-indigenes from collecting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs), as a basis for his allegation.
He said: "The fact that the Lagos State INEC owned up to the sack of two of its staff who were engaged in non-issuance of PVCs to non-indigenes confirmed our fears that both APC and INEC are colluding to rig the forthcoming election.
"The Lagos APC is aware that many of the non-indigenes who had been treated unfairly by this administration would get back at it through the poll.
"We are also aware that the APC government has been compelling Executive Secretaries, who in turn are compelling teachers and civil servants in the local governments to attend meetings where party candidates and leaders directly campaigned," Agbaje said.
The PDP candidate further claimed that the alleged action of APC was contradictory to the civil servants' right to freedom of thought, right to freedom of conscience and right to freedom from discrimination as enshrined in the Nigerian Constitution.
"What the Lagos State Government is getting the Executive Secretaries to do is contemptible and is a blantant abuse of office," he said.
Agbaje also demanded that INEC should go beyond the dismissal of the registration officials and prosecute them, "for colluding in the APC's plan to disenfranchise non-indigenes and other voters opposed to the continuation of the current order in the state."
Efforts to get the reactions of the Lagos State APC spokesperson, Joe Igbokwe and his assistant, Funsho Ologunde to Agbaje's allegation were unsuccessful, as they did not pick calls placed to their cell phones, while text messages sent to their phones were also not responded to as at the time of filing this report.
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