INEC officials to meet with Bode George, Agbaje – APC

Chief Bode George

The Lagos State chapter of the All Progressives Congress says it has received credible information that the Peoples Democratic Party leader in Lagos State, Chief Bode George; and the party’s governorship candidate, Mr. Jimi Agbaje; are planning to hold a meeting with senior officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Thursday (today).

The APC, in a statement by its Publicity Secretary, Mr. Joe Igbokwe, said the meeting would also have a former Minister of Works, Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe, in attendance.

The party, therefore, called on the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, to call his officials in Lagos to order.

The statement read, “Lagos APC has issued an alert that some senior INEC officials posted to Lagos for the conduct of Saturday’s election are meeting the trio of the PDP governorship candidate for Lagos, Jimi Agbaje, Chief Olabode George and Senator Adeseye Ogunlewe on Thursday for the purpose of perfecting the plan by the PDP to rig the presidential election in Lagos.

“As it becomes obvious to the PDP that its arrays of desperate measures to force Lagosians to vote for it have failed, the party has resorted to the last ditch tactics of buying and compromising electoral officers to rig for them. We challenge the PDP to deny this insidious plot to meet with senior INEC officials on Thursday so as to induce them with the free money the PDP has been desperately using to buy and procure all manners of pseudo support to its crumbling dreams for re- election.

“As its efforts to bribe traditional rulers, traders associations, Igbo groups, Afenifere, OPC to support it have failed to move the determined resolve of the good people of Lagos to end the woe-laden regime that has pauperised and despoiled them, the PDP has resorted to indecent and clandestine meetings with electoral officers with a view to compromise them to tilt the outcome of the coming elections to their favour.”

But INEC’s Head of Public Affairs in Lagos, Mr. Femi Akinbiyi, said he was not aware of such a meeting.

When contacted on the telephone, the publicity secretary of the PDP, Mr. Taofik Gani, said there was no truth in the allegation.

He said, “There is no iota of truth in the allegation. The APC is the ruling party in Lagos and is more familiar with INEC than the PDP. For the APC to say that INEC will compromise shows how jittery they are.

“Chief Bode George and Senator Ogunlewe are not known for such. In fact, they don’t have the money. They are not as rich as Bola Tinubu, the billionaire Emperor of Bourdillon. They are just making excuses because they know ‘Lagosians’ will kick them out of government.”