The Director-General of the Labour Party Presidential Campaign Council, Akin Osuntokun, has revealed that the hand of one of the party’s supporters attacked in Lagos has been amputated.
The supporter was attacked as he made his way to the Tafawa Balewa Square in Lagos on February 11, 2023.
The party’s presidential candidate, Peter Obi; his running mate, Datti Baba-Ahmed; and other chieftains of the party were at the TBS for the campaign rally of the Labour Party.
Osuntokun, who disclosed this on a Channels Television programme: “The 2023 Verdict,” said of the preparation for the general election by the Independent National Electoral Commission and security agencies, particularly the police: “I won’t score the preparation 100 per cent.
“There are some factors that challenge that conclusion.
“One of that is the predisposition to voter suppression through violence: we have been a victim of that, especially in Lagos in which INEC people actually responded to people looking for their PVCs (Permanent Voter Cards) discriminatorily.
“When we had the rally in Lagos, our supporters were prevented in certain areas from coming to the Tafawa Balewa Square and some of them were injured.
“As we speak, one of them has had his hand amputated.
“So, of course, when you take these into consideration, you cannot be confident that this is going to work well.”
Osuntokun also expressed reservations about the Bimodal Voter Registration System, the technology that will be used for the accreditation and authentication of voters.
He said: “Once the fact that the BVAS or the electronic transmission introduction to the system is supposed to preclude the possibility of over-voting or something like that but according to the judgement of the tribunal on the Osun State election that was conducted a while ago, the tribunal nullified the victory of the PDP on account of over-voting, now were does that come in?”