The National Leader of the All Progressives Congress, APC, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, has sounded the alarm that there was little or no police presence in areas which the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, is considered to be strong in Lagos.
The former governor of Lagos State stated this while addressing journalists at Sunday Adigun Street, Alausa, where he voted on Saturday. He alleged that the PDP-led Federal Government had relegated the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Kayode Aderanti, to the level of an area commander just because the party had ulterior motives.
This was as he noted that the controversial Assistant Inspector-General of Police, AIG Joseph Mbu, was the one acting as the Commissioner of Police for the elections.
According to Tinubu, “The alarming issue now is the inconsistencies and lack of police presence in areas of their own boasting. They announced Monday last week that the AIG has been assigned to supervise the elections. Yesterday (Friday), we heard the CP has been relegated to an area commander and the AIG is now a Commissioner of Police in charge of the election.
“From that, you smell rats. It is not good enough for confidence building. If there is no written order, it should not be possible for anybody, no matter how highly placed, to make an oral posting of the police or the army.”
The APC leader went on to condemn the spate of violence in the South-South geopolitical zone, describing it as barbaric. He said it was violence and threats of such that might have caused a low voter turnout in several parts of the country.
Tinubu spoke further, “We have to remove violence from our politics. Election is about people and service, it is not a process of gun, war and violence. It is power by all means that is the cause of the violence and we have to remove that and allow the process to function and nurture the process of democracy, respect the rule of law and lives and property of Nigerians.
“The attempt to be governor or control states should come from the people’s sovereignty; the right of the people to choose their own leaders,” he stated.
The former Lagos governor also commended the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, for the smooth process of accreditation, expressing optimism that it would boost voters confidence
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