INEC Plans In Smoke As Court Insists MC Oluomo Must Not Convey Voting Materials On Election Day

Again, plans of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), to deliver voting materials across the 20 LGAs of Lagos state is in smoke as a Federal High Court sitting in the state has restrained the electoral body from engaging the Chairman of Lagos State Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo in the distribution of 2023 election materials in the state.

Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke who gave the judgement on Friday in a suit filed by Labour Party, its governorship candidate, Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour, and others (The other applicants in the suit are: African Democratic Congress, Boot Party, and their governorship candidates, Funsho Doherty, and Wale Oluwo respectively), also restricted INEC from using its privies or any persons acting under its directions from contracting, partnering, or appointing any of MC Oluomo’s members and/or drivers in distributing materials in the state.

The applicants through their lawyer, Abass Ibrahim, had sought the following reliefs: “a declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee by INEC to distribute 2023 election materials and personnel in Lagos State violates Section 26 and 27 of the Electoral Act 2022 and consequently unlawful, null and void.

“A declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee (established by Governor Babajide SanwoOlu, the APC gubernatorial candidate in Lagos State) and any of its members and/or drivers by INEC to distribute election materials and personnels in Lagos State will give room for election sabotage, manipulation, and rigging in favour of the APC and consequently unlawful and illegal.

“A declaration that the appointment, partnership, or contracting of Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its members and/or drivers by INEC to distribute 2023 election materials and personnels in Lagos State is unlawful, wrongful, unjust and/or unreasonable and should be immediately stopped.

“An order setting aside any partnership, undertaking, contract and/or MOU of any form or nature executed by Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, the Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its members and/or drivers with INEC to distribute election materials and personnels in Lagos State.

“An order of perpetual injunction restraining INEC and/or their privies or any persons acting under their directions from contracting, partnering of appointing Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo, Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its members and/or drivers to distribute 2023 election materials and personnels in Lagos State.”

The court had on Monday granted an interim order on the matter. In granting the order stopping Oluomo, Justice Aneke had ruled: “an order of interlocutory injunction filed by the Labour Party and five others restraining the Independent National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (defendant/respondent), whether by itself or by its officers, affiliates, servants, privies or agents or any person acting or purporting to act for and on behalf howsoever from taking any steps or further steps whatsoever in furtherance of the engagement or appointment or consummating the appointment of Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo-led Lagos State Parks Management Committee or any of its commercial bus drivers to distribute 2023 election materials and personnel in Lagos State pending the hearing and determination the substantive suit.”

THE WHISTLER reported that the state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Olusegun Agbaje, had while speaking during the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security meeting at INEC Office in Lagos, said that the commission in Lagos State does not have any option than to use park management system on the days of elections.

Oluomo is a card carrying member of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and loyalist to the APC presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu.

Following Agbaje’s comment, he has been accused of connivance with the APC. The presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Atiku Abubakar, has called for his removal as INEC REC in the state for alleged partisanship.

“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 7 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, Professor 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 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 ,” Atiku had said In a statement issued by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu.

Also, Human Rights Writers Association of Nigeria, a civil rights advocacy group, on Wednesday, called for the removal of Agbaje as Lagos REC.