By Ismail Auwal
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has said that the commission’s plans for Election Day may be significantly affected by the non-availability of fuel in the country.
The INEC boss spoke at a meeting with the leadership of the National Union of Transport Workers (NURTW) in Abuja on Tuesday said the purpose of the meeting was to put finishing touches to the implementation of the Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) signed by INEC and NURTW on 20th December 2022 and to conclude on the modalities for the certification of vehicles by the Federal Road Safety Corps, FRSC, in the light of the emphasis we place on the safety of election personnel and materials.
Yakubu noted that the issue of logistics has been a perennial problem in election administration in Nigeria.
He said that the INEC has for this reason collaborated with the road transport unions to address the problem for three electoral cycles now.
Now, the INEC said that the Marine Workers’ Union of Nigeria, MWUN, has been included for efficient maritime transportation.
“The time has come to stop all excuses and provide effective logistics to ensure hitch-free logistics on Election Day,” he said.
He said that this time around, Nigerians should not go to the polling units to wait for the arrival of personnel and materials at the polling units but rather it should be the other way round.
“The Commission is aware that this is an enormous task. Election is the largest deployment a nation periodically undertakes and mobilisation of vehicles for election is a large and complex exercise,” he added.
The INEC boss reminded the union that there should be no inter-state movement since its members are scattered across the nation and also that the MoU between the two bodies covers both forward and reverse logistics.
He assured them of their safety during this period, adding that INEC is working with the security agencies to ensure their safety.
“The Commission shares your concern about the fuel situation in the country and its impact on transportation on Election Day,” he added.
“The truth is that our arrangement 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.”
