‘Seun Ibukun-Oni, Abuja

 

DAILY COURIER – The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Prof Mahmood Yakubu has maintained that in contrast to previous elections where Nigerians will be at the polling units waiting for election personnels and materials, the forthcoming 2023 elections will be the reverse.

The Chairman said this at the sensitization meeting on the implementation of the INEC/NURTW/NARTO/MWUN Memorandum of Understanding on the 2023 general election today, Tuesday, January 31, 2023.

He observed that the issue of logistics has been a perennial problem in election administration in Nigeria. Which is why INEC has collaborated with the road transport unions to address the problem.

“For the 2023 General Election, the Commission has included the Marine Workers’ Union of Nigeria (MWUN) for efficient maritime transportation. The time has come to stop all excuses and provide effective logistics to ensure hitch-free logistics on Election Day.

“Nigerians should not wait for the arrival of personnel and materials at the polling units. Rather, we should be there waiting for the arrival of voters. We believe that this is achievable. Recent elections have shown that working in partnership with the unions and other stakeholders, we can achieve the objective. This is a patriotic duty and we should make the necessary sacrifice in the national intertest.

He promised to work with the security agencies to ensure the safety of the drivers and their vehicles during the election. “Just like our election duty personnel, their safety is paramount. That is why in the most recent elections conducted by the Commission, the leadership of your Union at State level attended several meetings with our officials and the security agencies. We also ensured that your Union was represented in our Situation Room to coordinate the deployment of vehicles and the security of drivers. We will ensure that a similar arrangement is made nationwide for the general election.”

On the scarcity of fuel, he promised to lias with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) on how to minimize the likely disruptions to the general elections.

“The Commission shares your concern about the fuel situation in the country and its impact on transportation on Election Day. The truth is that our arrangements may be negatively affected by the non-availability of products. For this reason, the Commission will this afternoon meet with the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) to look into ways to ameliorate the situation. I wish to assure Nigerians that we will continue to engage every national institution for the success of the 2023 General Election” he said.

He charged the transporters to abide by the oath of neutrality contained in the Memorandum of Understanding.

“I will not conclude my remarks without reminding you of your obligation to neutrality. The work of INEC requires non-partisanship. Working in partnership with the Commission, you will be required to subscribe to the Oath of Neutrality and to demonstrate your non-partisanship in the work you do on Election Day” he concluded.

Thanking the Commission for the partnership, the president of NURTW, Comrade Tajudeen Ibikunle Baruwa said that they have done well in the previous elections but it is important to bring all the leadership to know the importance of the task. He promised that the entire gamut of transporters will not disappoint Nigerians in the forthcoming elections.

The resident representative, Friedrich Ebert Stiftung, FES, Daniel Mann noted that the follow up meeting on how to improve on the logistics, December 2022 is part of FES’s contribution to deepening democracy in Nigeria for more than 45 years.

He added, “Nigeria despite all the challenges have come a long way in conducting a free fair and credible polls.

“INEC, other stakeholders have done their best before now and the preparation have shown that the 2023 elections will be prosperous and credible working together.”

The Corp Marshal of FRSC represented by Bisi Kazeem, deputy corp marshal hinted that all reservations on the checklist of certification have graciously been reviewed to meet the minimum safety standards of all vehicles to be deployed.

More than 100,000 vehicles and 4,000 boats would be required to move the electoral materials to 176, 846 polling units.