Journalists covering the All Progressives Congress (APC) Lagos State House of Assembly primary election were on Wednesday morning forced out of the election venue by party officials and security operatives at Akinhanmi Cole Ward E/E1, Obele Oniwala Mini-Stadium in Surulere, Lagos.
Some journalists arrived at the venue around 9:15am and observed that verification of party members was already ongoing despite the absence of officials from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
When asked about INEC’s absence, one of the APC officials handling the verification exercise told SaharaReporters that INEC officials were expected to arrive by 10am.
However, as of 11am, INEC officials had yet to appear at the venue.
During the verification exercise, one of the aspirants, Barakat Odunuga-Bakare, arrived with her supporters and security aides.
As journalists attempted to capture her arrival, police officers stationed at the venue warned that any journalist without an official tag would not be granted access to the election area.
Shortly after, two APC members who accompanied the aspirant approached some journalists and demanded to inspect their identification tags.
Although the tags carried the names of the journalists’ media organisations and identification numbers, the APC officials reportedly became hostile after noticing that the tags did not contain passport photographs.
The officials immediately ordered the journalists to leave the venue.
Attempts by the journalists to provide additional means of identification, including official press IDs, were reportedly ignored as party officials and security operatives forcefully pushed them out of the venue.
Witnesses said the situation nearly turned violent, with some security personnel allegedly threatening and attempting to assault the affected journalists.
As of the time this report was filed, the journalists remained barred from accessing the election venue, which had been heavily occupied by armed security operatives.
