Former deputy national chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, Olabode George, has condemned the reported threat against Igbo voters in Lagos. Speaking at a press conference in Lagos on Monday, George expressed displeasure at the audacity of those behind the threat and urged citizens of the state to go out and vote in the governorship election on March 11, assuring that adequate security would be provided.
He said, “As we speak, there are grand designs to provoke peace‑loving Nigerians whose resolve is to effect change through the ballot box on Saturday. Threats are being issued against voters suspected of wanting to vote against the incumbency. For the avoidance of doubt, a particular video has gone viral on social media, showing a strange character—suspected to be an agent of the state—threatening ‘brimstone and fire’ against anyone, particularly of South‑East extraction (Igbo), who dares to come out on election day to vote for the Labour Party. In the words of the state agent in the clip, ‘It’s either Sanwo Olu or nothing in Lagos.’”
“To this disposition, we, the Omo Eko Pataki, say it is the most heinous crime against humanity in this 21st century, and we condemn it in its entirety,” George continued. “We ask, who gave these characters institutional authority and powers to question the right of Nigerians to exercise their civic responsibility? We reject this divisive politics of annihilation of innocent Nigerians, which seeks to create anarchy and provoke anger among the citizenry. We remind all non‑Lagosian agents of the Lagos State Government that Nigerians have lived together in peace, irrespective of any political party in power.”
He further urged the electorate in Lagos to vote in large numbers on Saturday, “to vote against the plundering that has bedeviled our prosperous state for over two decades, as adequate security is assured to everyone exercising their civic responsibility.” George described Lagos as “a best example of a conquered territory where an Iragbiji native dwells like an obscene Persian monarch, determining who becomes a councillor, a local government chairman, a House of Assembly member, a Representative, a senator and a governor,” noting that this is done by compromising all agencies and organs of state, including the electoral commission itself.
Finally, he called on INEC to ensure the use of the transformational BVAS regime for transparency, a departure from the February 25 archaic system in which result sheets were moved manually from polling units.
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