It was a show of the fibre of those opposed to the retention of Professor Attahiru Jega as the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
Lagos and parts of Ogun State were literarily grounded Monday morning as people spewed out in their thousands to show their disenchantment with Jega and his handling of the preparation of the coming elections.
They demanded that the chief electoral umpire be ousted to pave way for a more credible elections.
The marchers were made up of different groups, which came together under the umbrella of Coalition of Concerned Nigerians, consisting of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC), nollywood artistes and human right groups.
The protest started from the old Lagos Toll Gate, through Lagos Ibadan Expressway and to Ikorodu Expressway and was rounded off at the National Stadium, Surulere.
SImilar protest for the sack of INEC Chairman was held on Friday by the Movement for the Actualisation of the Sovereign State of Biafra (MASSOB) in the South-East.
The protesters called for his immediate removal before the March 28 elections.
In a carnival-like manner, a road show involving top fuji musicians, Saheed Osupa and Abass Akande, popularly known as Obesere and Nollywood artistes, were also part of the protest.
Policemen from the different divisional police stations monitored the protest till it was rounded off at the National Stadium.
The protest practically grounded traffic in many parts of the state and further extended to the Ogun State axis of Lagos-Ibadan Expressway.
Commuters had a hectic day, as many were forced to walk a long distance as a result of unending gridlock created by the protest.
The anti-Jega protesters were joined by Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) supporters at Obanikoro, Palmgroove, Onipanu and Ojuelegba.
The protesters insisted that Jega must go on terminal leave and be replaced with a credible administrator before the elections.
According to the protesters, “over five million people are yet to collect their PVCs in the South West; over 2.5 in the South-South and two million in the South-East, while Jega claimed to have recorded 90 per cent distribution in the North, despite the high level of insecurity there.”
They also accused INEC of “illegal registration of underaged as prospective voters in the northern part of the country.”
The coalition also accused INEC of “registering foreign nationals from Chad, Niger Republic and Cameroon,” adding that “over one million PVCs have been recovered from them by security agencies and Jega could not give an explanation.”
The chief convener of the group, Chief Gani Adams, while speaking with newsmen, said Jega would have seriously embarrassed Nigeria if the elections had been allowed to commence on the February 14 as initially scheduled by INEC.
Adams said Jega was plotting to create chaos and national unrest in Nigeria by insisting to hold elections on February 14 , when he was aware that 34 per cent of Nigerians from the South-West were yet to obtain their PVCs.
He averred that “Jega should proceed on terminal leave and let a credible Nigerian be appointed to conduct the elections.”
Paul Obazele, who spoke on behalf of the Nollywood artistes, accused the INEC chairman of pitching the North against other regions in the country.
