The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship candidate in Lagos State, Jimi Agbaje, wants security agencies and relevant authorities to ensure perpetrators of violence in last Saturday’s elections are punished.
Mr Agbaje made the call on Monday while speaking with journalists at his campaign office in Obanikoro, Lagos.
The governorship candidate said the violence in some parts of the state during the polls threatened the credibility of the entire exercise.
The mayhem in Isolo, Oshodi, Surulere and other areas, he said, prevented some voters from exercising their civil rights to vote.
The candidate, who said violence was never an ingredient of an ideal democracy, said perpetrators must not go unpunished.
“We are calling on security agencies that those responsible for the mayhem in Okota, Coker Aguda and other areas, where it was obvious to people, as to what happened, to bring them to book immediately.
‘This is very important, because if we are going to talk about democracy, then we have to practice it properly. Everybody must play his part.
“We have told voters to come out and vote, and we assured them that their votes would count.
“If we have a situation where we don’t bring to book those who created problems in the polls, that have disenfranchised many voters, we are just paying lip service to democracy,’’ he said.
Mr Agbaje alleged that the violence in Oshodi, Ojo, Surulere and others were orchestrated to prevent supporters of the PDP from exercising their legitimate rights.
He said the areas where violence occurred were PDP strongholds. He accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of being behind the mayhem, to discourage voters from coming out to vote.
On the assessment of the electoral process, Mr Agbaje said the polls were characterized by many irregularities.
Apart from card readers malfunctioned in many polling units, which he said dishonest elements took advantage of to manipulate results in the affected areas.
Mr Agbaje described the delay in the results two days after the polls in the state as an unhealthy development, saying the situation casts doubts on the credibility of the process.
“In terms of the post mortem of the election, as I speak today, we have a situation where results are being delayed.
“We have had elections for two days and results are yet to be released in Lagos State.
“These results are in areas where we (PDP) have strength. That is deliberate because we have proof that a lot of them have been tampered with.
“That will not be acceptable to us. We will not accept results that have been tampered with,’’ he said.
Mr Agbaje also alleged that results were not pasted in many polling units in violation of electoral guidelines, giving room for manipulation of results.
He also alleged agents of the PDP were intimidated and attacked at polling units and collation centres by people opposed to the party.
The candidate also said results in no fewer than 37 polling units in Oshodi were cancelled, describing it as unacceptable.
Mr Agbaje said all the actions were taken to subvert the will of the people and prevent PDP from winning.
The candidate said the party was closely monitoring the whole picture and it would resist any attempt to stop the will of residents from prevailing.
He said his mission to free the state from bondage was on course, assuring that he would be victorious in the governorship election scheduled for March 9.
(NAN)
