Labour Party claims agent signed election result at gunpoint in Lagos

Millions of Nigerians went to the polls on Saturday, February 25, 2023 to elect the next president to replace President Muhammadu Buhari in May.

24 hours after polls closed, states like Lagos have started announcing the results of the closely-contested election.

When officials announced the total number of votes in Badagry Local Government Area of the state, the LP agent at the collation centre objected. She claimed the score didn't tally with what her party already has based on the collation of the polling unit results across the LGA.

The officials said her complaint was moot because her party's agent signed the result sheet, but she noted the agent did it under duress.

"The agent reported to me he had to sign at gunpoint. That's exactly what happened," she said.

The LP official also strongly rejected the result of Lagos Mainland LGA when it was announced. She said thugs disrupted voting in the area and disenfranchised supporters of the party. When officials noted again that the party's agent also signed the result, she insisted that her complaint be taken seriously. The officials called for a one-hour break to deal with the issue.

The candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu, won Badagry LGA with 31,903 and the LP's Peter Obi ended up in second place with 10,956 votes. Tinubu also won Lagos Mainland LGA with 20,030 votes ahead of Obi's 18, 698.

Tinubu is leading in Lagos, according to the result of eight LGAs announced before the break. He's won 215,442 votes and Obi is not too far behind with 118,844 votes. The electoral officials are yet to announce the record of votes in the remaining 12 LGAs in Lagos. 

Atiku Abubakar of the People's Democratic Party (PDP) is the other contender in the presidential race, but he's polled terribly in Lagos with only 30,368 votes so far.

The National Collation Centre in Abuja has announced the result of the presidential election in Ekiti State which Tinubu also won with 201,494 votes. Atiku finished second with 89,554 votes and Obi scored 11,397 votes.

The national collation will continue in the capital city on Monday, February 27.