Politics
‘INEC Requires 100,000 Vehicles, 4,200 Boats For 2023 Elections’
INEC yesterday signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the road transportation and marine workers’ unions to facilitate efficient and successful logistics delivery for 2023 general elections.
The unions include the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, at the signing ceremony, said that the commission would require 100,000 vehicles and about 4,200 boats for the general elections.
“The signing of a revised MoU with the road and marine transport unions today is a demonstration of our determination to implement key recommendations of the review exercise to enhance forward and reverse logistics in our electoral operations.
“The 2023 General Elections will involve the nationwide deployment of over one million personnel and massive quantities of materials twice within a period of two weeks from our state offices to 774 Local Government Areas; 8,809 Electoral Wards and 176,846 polling units across the length and breadth of our country.
“It will require over 100,000 vehicles and about 4,200 boats that will be accompanied by naval gunboats.
“This is a huge undertaking that must be accomplished in the next 66 days and we are resolute in doing so, to give Nigerians a pleasant voting experience.”
Yakubu assured Nigerians that INEC was determined that all polling units nationwide would open at 8.30 a.m. on February 25, 2023 for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and on March 11, 2023 for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Yakubu said that in order to ensure that personnel and materials arrived polling units before voters on election day, INEC required large numbers of vehicles, including motorcycles, tricycles, boats and canoes in the riverine areas which could not be met from its internal resources.
Yakubu recalled that INEC signed the first MoU with the NURTW in January 2015, reviewed it in December 2018 to incorporate NARTO, but did not incorporate the MWUN within the ambit of the MoU.
The situation, according to him, has often resulted in logistics nightmare in the deployment and retrieval of personnel and materials to the riverine areas of the country.
“This oversight is now addressed by the revised MoU to include MWUN, comprising of sailors, dockworkers and those in related trades in our electoral logistics planning and delivery.”
Yakubu advised leadership of the unions to effectively supervise their members in the various chapters and branches for the full implementation of the MoU.
He charged them to work very closely with INEC and collaborate with the Federal Regulatory and Safety Agencies to ensure that the objectives of the MoU were fully realised in terms of required road/sea worthiness and safety standards of your vehicles and boats.
He said that the new MoU required that all the union members involved in election duties swore and abide by INEC Oath/Affirmation of Neutrality and the INEC Code of Conduct for Electoral Officials as their participation in the delivery of electoral logistics required absolute neutrality and non-partisanship.
“The security agencies shall not only be available to escort all vehicles and boats to locations, they will also ensure the safety and protection of all election personnel and materials.
“As usual, we shall track the movement of all vehicles and boats electronically and in real time to ensure that election personnel and materials are not hijacked or diverted.
“Learning from the experience of the past, I would like to appeal to all the unions and service providers to abide by the spirit and letter of the MoU and the contract agreements.
“They must see their role as a national call to duty by ensuring that there is no failure on their part, especially on the eve of elections when it is too late for the Commission to make alternative arrangements.
“The unions should keep an eye on your members to ensure that when they take personnel and materials to designated locations, they also bring them back at the end of the elections. Your contract is for both forward and reverse logistics.”
Yakubu assured the union that INEC would work with security agencies to protect them and their vehicles in the course of the assignment.
“In the course of serving the nation, many of you have lost your vehicles to acts of arson and vandalism arising from violence and thuggery during elections.
“We appreciate that these vehicles are, in most cases, the sole means of livelihood for your members.
“While we appeal to political actors to call their supporters to order, I wish to assure you that we will continue to work with the security agencies to ensure the safety of your members and the protection of their vehicles and boats,” Yakubu said.
The National President of NURTW, Tajudeen Baruwa, said the signing of the MoU marked the beginning of journey for successful conduct of 2023 general elections.
Baruwa said that the three unions would do everything possible to be neutral and ensure succesful implementation of the MoU.
“I wish to assure you and the entire nation, that the three unions, that on our part, we would not disappoint Nigeria.
“In fact the NURTW, MWUN and NARTO has come to regard this assignment as national service and therefore must deliver,” Baruwa said.
The NARTO President-General, Yusuf Othman, pledged that NARTO was committed to the assignment.
Othman said that NARTO had already commenced the arrangements for the deployment of its men.
“We from NATO we consider this assignment national assignment and we will ensure we give 100 per cent commitment and neutrality.”
The National President MWUN, Dr Adeyaju Adewale, commended INEC for extending the service to the nation to maritime workers.
Adewale pledged that MWUN would support INEC to make the elections successful. (NAN)
The Tide source reports that Prof. Akinoso was elected alongside 38 other executive members of the party at the congress held on Saturday.
Other executive members are Dr Abiola Olaonipekun, who emerged as Secretary, Alhaja Latifah Latifu, Women Leader and Mr A. Adeleke, elected as Youth Leader.
It was learnt that the congress, which took place at the Obafemi Awolowo Stadium, Oke Ado in Ibadan, was attended by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the Police, other security agencies and prominent members of the party.
The election was supervised by electoral committee members, among whom were Prince Diran Odeyemi, who served as Chairman, Hon. Awoniyi Tolulope, Mr Babatunde Gbadamosi, Queen Stepheine Oyechere, Alhaji Yusuf Abidakun, Mr Olumide Aguda and Dr Phillips Adeniyi, who served as Secretary.
Prof. Akinoso, in his inaugural address, urged members of the party to set aside intra-party differences.
He advised them to concentrate their resources on the promotion of the party, saying, “The primary responsibilities of party executive members are to coordinate party activities, ensure harmony among members, and ensure party victory during general elections.
“Our immediate assignments are to key into INEC released 2027 general election time-tables. As directed by the National Caretaker Committee of PDP, our party e-membership registration starts next week. We must be fully involved and do a membership drive.
“A political party is only relevant and benefits its members if it wins the election. This is our goal. We should set aside intra-party differences; concentrate our resources towards the promotion of the party. We will make necessary consultations and dialogue to actualise this”.
President Tinubu disclosed this during an interfaith breaking of fast with senior journalists and media executives at the Presidential Villa in Abuja on Saturday.
He also disclosed that his administration had opened up on the principles of true federalism to the extent that local governments now get direct allocation from the Federal Government.
“There’s no morning that I ever leave my house without going through the newspapers. It’s an addiction. I read all of you.
“It might not be in full detail, but headline, the one that would hit me and the ones that won’t.
“At the beginning of this administration, I was just a little bit stubborn, looking at opportunities to correct things and make life more easier for the downtrodden.
“We’ve opened up the principle of federalism to the extent that local governments are now getting their money, but how they use it is in your hands. So, don’t bombard me alone,” President Tinubu said.
The ruling party said the ADC had turned criticism of the APC-led administration into its operating manifesto instead of presenting concrete solutions to Nigeria’s economic challenges.
In a statement issued on Saturday by the APC National Publicity Secretary, Mr Felix Morka, the party dismissed the ADC’s interpretation of a report presented at a policy dialogue organised by Agora Policy which suggested that the country’s poverty rate had risen from 49 per cent to 63 per cent.
Mr Morka said the opposition party’s reaction to the report as a “damning verdict” on the government’s economic policies reflected either ignorance of economic realities or deliberate political mischief.
“The African Democratic Congress’ attempt to spin a recent report presented at the Agora Policy dialogue indicating a rise of poverty rate of 63 per cent from 49 per cent as a damning verdict on this administration’s economic policies speaks either to its shocking ignorance of economic policy or its wilful blindness to the justification for, and transformative impacts of, ongoing economic reforms,” he said.
The APC spokesman noted that the report itself recognised the necessity of reforms aimed at correcting long-standing structural distortions in the economy.
According to him, the ADC had failed to present any credible alternative policy direction for Nigerians.
“Clearly, the ADC does not recognise itself as a political party. The ADC has not articulated a single alternative policy position or prescription of benefit to Nigerians. Condemning the APC and its policies has become its operating manifesto,” Mr Morka said.
He explained that major economic decisions taken by President Bola Tinubu, including the removal of fuel subsidy and the unification of multiple foreign exchange windows, were necessary steps to rescue the country’s economy from collapse.
Mr Morka said the subsidy regime had for years placed a heavy burden on public finances, consuming trillions of naira annually while encouraging corruption, fuel smuggling and inefficiencies in the system.
He added that the reforms had helped redirect national resources to key sectors such as infrastructure, healthcare, education and social development.
The APC spokesman acknowledged that economic reforms often come with short-term hardship but stressed that the measures were essential to build a stronger and more resilient economy.
“Economic reform is never cost-free anywhere in the world. The transient hardship experienced by Nigerians was an inevitable cost of reforms meant to build and guarantee a better future for all Nigerians,” he said.
Mr Morka maintained that the country’s economic outlook was already improving, citing recent growth figures and stronger external reserves.
“Our economy has rebounded and is expanding steadily. The country’s Gross Domestic Product grew by 4.4 per cent last year and is projected to expand by 5.5 per cent this fiscal year, with foreign reserves now exceeding $50 billion,” he stated.
He also pointed to government initiatives designed to cushion the effects of economic adjustments on citizens, including cash transfer programmes, student loan schemes and the rollout of compressed natural gas (CNG) initiatives to reduce transportation costs.
Mr Morka reaffirmed that the APC-led administration would remain focused on rebuilding the economy and expanding social investments to support vulnerable Nigerians.
-
News4 days agoNavy Destroys Illegal Refinery In Rivers, Intercepts Stolen Fuel In C’ River
-
News4 days agoYou’re The Backbone Of Our Society, Fubara Salutes Mothers On Mothering Sunday
-
Rivers4 days agoCounty Grammar School Old Boys Elect New Executive
-
Environment4 days agoIllegal Buildings On Embassies’ Land Will Be Demolished – Wike
-
Politics4 days agoHUNDREDS OF LATE BAYELSA DEP GOV’S KINSMEN DUMP PDP FOR APC
-
Politics4 days agoA’Court Voids Rep’s Sack Over Defection To APC
-
Politics4 days agoYou’re Misleading Nigerians, APC Slams ADC Over Poverty Rate Report
-
Niger Delta4 days agoLawyer X-rays Consequences Of Court Injuction Suspending INC Polls … As Diri Intervenes