Some supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Apapa, Lagos, Tuesday took to the streets to protest against the announced results for the Apapa Federal House of Representatives election ld last Saturday. The protesters who took their protest to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) office in Yaba, Lagos, alleged that Adewale Adewunmi, the candidate of the PDP in Apapa Federal House of Representatives was rigged out of the election.
However, Tokunbo Afikuyomi, a former senator and chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) which candidate won the election, speaking at the INEC office, dismissed the PDP allegation.
He said the APC won the election and there was no case to pursue. Amid tight security at the INEC office, the protesters who carried placards with inscriptions such as, “Return Adewale Adewunmi’s mandate, “ Adewale won the election,” “Let the will of the people prevail,” said they have facts to prove that the results were manipulated.
According to Francis Ayodele Omose, the PDP collation officer at Apapa Local Government, anything short of cancellation of the results will not be accepted by the people who he said voted massively for the PDP candidate. He explained that “problem started with hitches created with faulty card readers INEC brought. This hampered the voting process.
The card readers were not used in most of the polling units. Especially in Ijora Oloye, ward D, Apapa GRA ward H, the card readers were not used and some of the card readers brought to our place were not working. This caused delay till 2:00pm “I have it on tape and I will release it when the time is right I will tender it as evident where party agents of APC were given the result sheets to edit.
We have alterations on the result sheets. That automatically invalidates the results of the election. In some places the total number of votes is than the total number of accredited voters.
He also alleged that in ward F three booklets meant for National Assembly elections were snatched only for certain individuals to surface at the end of voting exercise and dump it in the ballot boxes.
