Jonathan must take Lagos-West seriously —Adewale

The Peoples Democratic Party senatorial candidate for Lagos-West, Mr. Segun Adewale, says President Goodluck Jonathan’s victory in the South-West will be determined largely by the Lagos-West senatorial district which is the most populous senatorial district in Nigeria.

He said out of the 20 local government areas in Lagos State, 10 local governments fall under Lagos-West.

He, therefore, urged the President to ensure that Lagos-West is given special attention, especially in the area of mobilisation.

Adewale, who is popularly known as Aeroland, said this during an interview with journalists on Thursday.

He said, “Right now, I am talking to the leaders of my party and trying to get support because if we lose Lagos-West senatorial district, we will lose Lagos. This can affect the entire result of the President because he is not only required to win but he must win with two-thirds in every geopolitical zone.”

Adewale further lamented that many PDP supporters, especially non-indigenes, were not getting their Permanent Voter Cards.

He said the PDP was banking on Igbo communities in Lagos for a large number of votes but unfortunately they were not given their PVCs.

He, therefore, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission to put its act together.

He said, “Everyone is complaining about being unable to get PVCs except the All Progressives Congress. This means they are the ones frustrating it in conjunction with INEC. As it stands, I don’t even have a PVC. A lot of people that want to vote for me cannot get their PVCs.

“This means I can’t even vote for myself. From Amuwo Odofin to Ojo and Ajeromi/Ifelodun local governments, where the non-indigenes are expected to vote for me and the President, people find it difficult to get their PVCs.”

The senatorial candidate urged the national leadership to intervene in the matter and provide direct funds to him to defeat his All Progressives Congress counterpart, Solomon Adeola.

However, Lagos INEC in a statement by its Head, Public Affairs, Femi Akinbiyi, denied attempting to disenfranchise voters.

The statement read, “The records we have at our disposal, which are available for all to see, indicate that Lagosians of different ethnic backgrounds have been coming forward to collect their cards.

“To be sure, the bulk of the ad hoc workers are members of the National Youth Service Corps who come from different ethnic backgrounds. With such diverse backgrounds among whom a substantial number of them are non-indigenes, it is most unlikely that they would embark on discriminating against non-indigenes like themselves.”

The electoral body, however, revealed that two INEC ad hoc employees had been fired for denying two non-indigenes of their PVCs.