TELL Magazine

Lagos State candidate of the Labour Party, LP Gbadebo Rhodes-Vivour has raised the alarm over alleged pre-loading of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, BVAS machines in some areas, voter intimidation, voter suppression, harassment, and relocation of polling centres in some of his party’s strongholds. He mentioned in particular areas like the Victoria Garden City, VGC, Oshodi/Isolo, and Ojo.
Rhodes-Vivour, who was in the company with his wife, cast his vote at about 9.45 am at his PO 045 Oshifila Igbira iIkeja area of Lagos. Speaking after casting his vote, Rhodes-Vivour complained to journalists that “Since morning, we’ve been getting widespread reports of voter suppression, voter intimidation in places like Kosofe . There has been a lot of targeted voter suppression. Currently now at VGC, polling agents do not want to go into the estate. Instead, they are trying to get voters come to the express where they’ve colluded with thugs to harass and disenfranchise them. So, that is already an illegal thing because INEC polling units have an address, they have locations and it’s not on the highway. So, we are working to respond to that”.
The LP candidate is concerned that these cases have put the credibility of the entire election into question. According to him, “You have a situation where in Alimoso, in Iba, till 10 minutes ago when I checked, polling materials have not arrived. So you find that everywhere that we are strong, either polling materials are yet to arrive; you have a situation in Alimoso, the polling officials are saying that they were not paid the last time, they were not going into the field. But how does that concern us? INEC had been funded to do all of these so this is a ploy just to try to manipulate the election”.
On his expectation from INEC, he insisted that “INEC must transmit votes electronically. We’ve gotten reports from several other places where BVAS had already been preloaded, and that is not acceptable. We are not foo

Ikeja area of Lagos. Speaking after casting his vote, Rhodes-Vivour complained to journalists that “Since morning, we’ve been getting widespread reports of voter suppression, voter intimidation in places like Kosofe . There has been a lot of targeted voter suppression. Currently now at VGC, polling agents do not want to go into the estate. Instead, they are trying to get voters come to the express where they’ve colluded with thugs to harass and disenfranchise them. So, that is already an illegal thing because INEC polling units have an address, they have locations and it’s not on the highway. So, we are working to respond to that”.
The LP candidate is concerned that these cases have put the credibility of the entire election into question. According to him, “You have a situation where in Alimoso, in Iba, till 10 minutes ago when I checked, polling materials have not arrived. So you find that everywhere that we are strong, either polling materials are yet to arrive; you have a situation in Alimoso, the polling officials are saying that they were not paid the last time, they were not going into the field. But how does that concern us? INEC had been funded to do all of these so this is a ploy just to try to manipulate the election”.
On his expectation from INEC, he insisted that “INEC must transmit votes electronically. We’ve gotten reports from several other places where BVAS had already been preloaded, and that is not acceptable. We are not foo