INEC didn’t remove Igbo staff from election duties — Lagos REC

Hafeestonova — Thu, 16 Mar 2023 10:09:29 +0000

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Lagos State, Independent National Electoral Commission, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, has said the electoral body did not remove the names of persons from the South-East and South-South geopolitical zones from the list of ad hoc staff for Saturday’s governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

There were claims on social media that the electoral umpire in Lagos had removed the names of all of its ad hoc staff from the South-East and South-South from election duties for the March 18 elections.

In a statement released on Wednesday evening signed by Mrs Adenike Tadese, the Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Agbaje described the allegations as fake news which should be ignored. The statement read in part, “INEC Lagos State read with great surprise and concern on the social media …the removal of all Igbo and South-South staff in Lagos State from participating as ad hoc staff in the state during the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections on March 18.“It has become imperative to correct the erroneous accusations in some quarters and put the record straight that the ad hoc staff (collation officers) engaged during the presidential and National Assembly Elections on February 25 in Lagos State were 738 in number, bearing in mind that three elections were held.“The forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly will only require the services of 427 collation officers because only two elections are involved.

“It is pertinent to state unequivocally that members of staff that are Igbo were all returned to work as collation officers in the forthcoming elections while SPOs (Supervisory Presiding Officers) maintained their positions.”

Agbaje said that he did not at any time engage in any phone conversation with any politician noting that, “Whoever has information concerning the day and time of the said telephone conversation should not hesitate to make it public.”

He urged members of the public to shun fake news, misinformation and disinformation and allow INEC in Lagos to focus on the forthcoming elections in order to achieve the desired results.

“The commission will continue to uphold the fundamental principles of equity, fairness, transparency, credibility and accountability in line with the vision and mission to be a pre-eminent leader in deepening electoral democracy as an unbiased election management body,” he said.

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INEC didn’t remove Igbo staff from election duties — Lagos REC