27th March, 2023
By Abiodun Lawal
The All Progressives Congress, APC, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide maximum security for its staff and the election materials used in the just-concluded elections in Ogun State.
Mr Tunde Oladunjoye, the publicity secretary for APC in Ogun said this in a statement issued on Sunday while reacting to recent protest at the state office of INEC by a crowd led by the governorship candidate of Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Oladipupo Adebutu.
According to Oladunjoye, all the ballot papers pertaining to the general elections needed adequate security and should be protected from the Adebutu and his party.
The APC spokesperson therefore called for provision of watertight security for INEC offices across the state, its officers and election materials in view of the recent happenings in Ogun.
He pointed to the invasion of the state’s INEC headquarters by the PDP governorship candidate, Adebutu, who lost in the March 18, 2023 polls.
“We are duty bound to urge INEC and all other relevant statutory bodies, including the security agencies, to ensure that nothing untoward happened to the election materials, especially the ballot papers, in INEC’s possession.
“Adebutu not only took thugs to INEC to ‘submit a letter’ but also insisted that officers of INEC must come out to address his hired crowd and respond to the so-called letter,” he said.
Oladunjoye opined that it was an already established legal process that parties who wished to challenge an election result and intend to gain access to INEC materials could only do so through the order of the court.
The state APC spokesperson explained that it remained worrisome to see someone who wanted to govern a state of many firsts such as Ogun lead misguided crowd to submit an ordinary letter.
“The invasion of INEC head office by Adebutu was desperation of the highest order, which depicted poor sportsmanship.
“Having lost the election and failed to get to office via purchase, the PDP and its candidate lacked the moral rectitude to make allegations of electoral impropriety against anybody or INEC,” he said.
(NAN)