Election in the Victoria Garden City, VGC, is now to take place on Sunday, according to the Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Segun Agbaje. Agbaje said the governorship and House of Assembly elections, which involve 10 polling units, would hold between 8.30 am and 2.30 pm on Sunday.
The residents of the estate had refused to vote because their original polling units were relocated outside the estate without prior information. Officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had refused to come into the VGC, according to them, because of some security concerns during the February 25 presidential election.
Announcing the shift at a press conference, Agbaje, said “We have eight polling units here with 6,024 registered voters, and out of which 5,624 people have their PVCs. After due consultation, we had further directive from the national headquarters that we should remobilise here tomorrow (Sunday) morning by 08:30am to conduct the elections. By 08:30am tomorrow (Sunday), we will reconvene here.” He said two other polling units at the estate’s main gate were also affected.
Explaining their predicament, chairman of the VGC Residents Association, Gihan Mgbelu, told Arise TV that “We are hearing that due to some security concerns during the presidential election, the polling units have been moved outside of the community. Of course, the issue we are having as residents is that there was no formal communication telling us that this was going to be done.
“People are of course feeling that they have been disenfranchised. They didn’t have the prerequisite information that they needed to make the decision to vote here. There are a lot of questions around the legality of these polling units; whether it’s a legal polling unit or not. That’s what we’re waiting information on”. He said they were asked by INEC staff to sign an undertaking saying that they would be safe within the community, which he said he signed but yet one hour after, INEC was yet to act.
Follow Us on Social Media
