Fashola tells MC Oluomo, INEC to obey Court ban on delivery of election materials

By Ikechukwu Okaforadi

The Director of Election Planning and Monitoring Directorate, Babatunde Fashola, has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Managing Director of Lagos Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, alias MC Oluomo, to obey Lagos High Court ruling which banned his company from being used to convey electoral materials for the 2023 general election in Lagos State.
Fielding questions from journàlists yesterday in Abuja, Fashola, who is also the Minister of Works and Housing, said obedience to the court is synonymous with rule of law, adding that until Court ruling is challenged in court of law, it must be obeyed.
Fashola said “I think that by now, from my own public service records, where I stand on rule of law is no longer a matter for debate. I have been a public servant for 21 years and it is not what I say now that matters or what I do. It is the consistency of my conduct.
“For me, there is no choice between the rule of law and my life. It is a forced choice because my life really means nothing if it is not lived with the rule of law, that is what protects all of us.
“So, anybody who is faced with an order of court, whether it be INEC, whether it be anybody, is bound to comply. Whether you like the court order or not, if you don’t like the court order, the rule has been set down from centuries ago, that you must go back to the same court to say I am challenging this order. The person to whom the order is made should simply comply. There is no choice, it is the rule of law or nothing.
He also asked INEC to release the data on the number of PVC collection State by state, adding that the party is set for the Saturday elections.
“I think it is very important for the credibility of the results and the credibility of the elections. We have been acquainted with how many people registered, but we don’t have the numbers of how many people collected PVCs and that is a very important ask.
“And I think I speak the minds of all the parties by saying, ‘How many people collected PVCs, the breakdown of the PVCs collection per state and per local government and to every unit of electoral activity that INEC can provide that information.
“We think it is a very important piece of information that will help INEC reinforce the credibility of the exercise that it is undertaking”, he said.
Meanwhile, he expressed optimism that his Party, APC will win the election landslide.