Olusegun Olanrewaju; David Lawani, Abuja; Israel Joel, Jos
Like an overwhelming hurricane, the Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate, Peter Obi, yesterday swept the polls resoundingly conducted in Lagos State.

He beat the traditional landlords in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, and his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) counterpart, Atiku Abubakar, in their game on the political turf, polling 582,454 votes.

The closest rival, Tinubu, polled 572,606, while Atiku got 72,750 votes.

Analysts attribute Obi’s victory to a constellation of factors rooted in youth power, dexterity, technological savviness, and sagacity.

The result presented some humbling for Tinubu in particular, and to his aides in particular.

It is no less humiliating, experts note, for former Nigerian vice-president, Atiku Abubakar, the PDP candidate, who came a distant third, according to the results announced at Lagos collation centre.

A high point was recorded as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) declared Thaddeus Attah of the LP winner of the Eti-Osa Federal Constituency seat in the House of Representatives, defeating incumbent, Babajide Obanikoro.

Making the declaration yesterday at the collation centre, INEC Returning Officer, Prof Funmilayo Odukoya, said Attah won with 24,075 votes, beating his counterparts, Olubankole Wellington (Banky W) of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), who had 18,666 votes, and Obanikoro of the APC, who had 16,901 votes.

“That Thaddeus Attah of LP, having satisfied the requirement of the law is hereby declared the winner and is returned elected; signed by me. Thank you so much,” Odukoya said.

She also announced that other candidates received the following votes: Oladehin Olufemi, African Democratic Congress (ADC), 1,422 votes; Azeez Kabirat of New Nigeria Peoples Party, 414 votes, and Mr Olasunkanmi Ololade, Social Democratic Party, 207 votes.

*PDP rejects result as APC warns against anarchy

Earlier, there was pandemonium between the party agents and INEC officers over the authenticity of the result, even before it was declared by the presiding officer.

The agent of the PDP refused to accept the announcement of results unless their complaints were addressed.

Speaking to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), PDP agent, Aderemi Adeshina, claimed that some voters were disenfranchised in some polling units in the LGA.

Adeshina also claimed that results recorded in some units after the elections were not transmitted through the BVAS machine.

“We will not accept the result until another election takes place in all the wards where we were disenfranchised,” he said.

Also, a former chairperson of the party in the state, Tunji Shelle, who was also the party’s agent at the INEC collation centre in Yaba, said, “The integrity of the process is highly compromised. I don’t accept the result on behalf of my party,” he said on Monday after the collation process. It is not because we have not won the election, but the process has been compromised.”

NAN reports that security agents including the police and army were on the ground to ensure and maintain safety and peace.

*Tinubu’s response

Hours after it emerged that the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Peter Obi polled the highest votes in the presidential election result from Lagos State, the All Progressives Congress APC Presidential candidate, Bola Tinubu, has appealed to Lagos residents to be calm and eschew any act that can lead to the breakdown of law and order.

According to Tinubu, the outcome of the election in Lagos where the Labour Party won the presidential election should not be a source of provocation saying that the beauty of democracy is that people have a right to vote for the candidate of their choice.

Tinubu said as a democrat he is bound to accept the outcome of any election whether favourable or not.

In a statement released yesterday by the APC PCC signed by its spokesman, Bayo Onanuga, Tinubu expressed serious concerns over reports of violence in parts of the state, especially reported attacks on some traders of Igbo origin.

The former Lagos State governor condemned any form of violence against people of any ethnic group in Lagos.

“The fact that the APC narrowly lost Lagos State to another party should not be the reason for violence. As a democrat, you win some, you lose some. We must allow the process to continue unhindered across the country while we maintain peace and decorum,” the statement said.

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*INEC: Outcome shows neutrality

Meanwhile, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lagos State, Olusegun Agbaje, has said the commission’s neutrality had indicated in the outcome of the collated results of the Presidential and National Assembly Elections in the state.

It would be recalled that some leaders of the LP, which had the highest number of votes according to the collation on the presidential election in the state, had earlier called for the removal of Agbaje in the build-up to the polls over some allegations against him.

Agbaje told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos yesterday, “The commission does not work for any political party. No commissioner in INEC influences any election. Even, the Chairman of the commission (Prof. Mahmood Yakubu) cannot do that.

“Let us collaborate. Fake news, misinformation, and disinformation will not help this country.

“We remain undisturbed and cannot be distracted. Some people think REC can change figures. Figures cannot be changed with BVAS. Things have changed. All of us can see from the results,” he said.

Agbaje urged stakeholders to learn to collaborate more with INEC rather than resorting to social media peddling falsehood

The REC commended all stakeholders who had contributed to the success of the elections and the collation of results.

He specifically applauded the collation officers, security agencies, domestic and foreign observers, media, and staff of the commission

On the allegation of manipulation levelled against the election process by the PDP State Collation Agent, Capt Tunji Agbaje (retd.), disagreed with him.

“If the election was not free and fair and all the party agents signed the results at the polling unit, registration level, and local government level, I believe he (PDP) is not being sincere,” he said.

On INEC’s preparations for the March 11 governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state, he said the space of days in-between the two elections allowed sitting down and addressing challenges.

Meanwhile, the APC State Collation Agent, Fouad Oki, while reacting to the outcome of the Presidential Election in the state, said “democracy at work. We are democrats.”

He, however, called for a review of the nation’s electoral process, especially in the deployment of technology to make its operation seamless.

“When you deploy technology, you must expect some hiccups and I think it was several hiccups that were created by BVAS that are still part of the learning process,” he said.

Oki said that the effect of the last two weeks of government policies had a causative effect on the voters’ turnout and the eventual outcome of the elections.

“I am sure the next two weeks will be quite different,” he said.

The presidential and NASS elections were held simultaneously across the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory on Saturday.

*Sanwo-Olu calls for calm

Amid it all, Lagos State governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu, has called on the people of Lagos to remain calm and eschew violence in the wake of the outcome of the fallouts of the election.

Sanwo-Olu, in a statement yesterday, said that there had been reports of friction in some parts of the state in the morning.

He, however, said that all was now calm.

According to him, there is no need for violence, which is not part of the state’s culture.

”I urge all Lagosians to go about their businesses without any fear of harassment.

”Law enforcement agencies have been asked to ensure that there is no breakdown of law and order in any part of the state.

”I have been your governor for almost four years, promoting harmony and friendship across ethnic and religious lines without any form of discrimination whatsoever. Let us remain calm. All will be well. We are a peaceful people and so we shall remain,” he said.