Joel Oladele, Abuja
Ahead of the 2023 general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN)
Speaking at the ceremony which took place in Abuja on Tuesday, the INEC National Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu said the signing of the revised MoU with the road and marine transport unions is a demonstration of the commission’s determination to implement key recommendations of the review exercise in order to enhance forward and reverse logistics in electoral operations.
He added that in terms of logistics, the task ahead is huge as the election will involve the nationwide deployment of over 1 million personnel and massive quantities of materials twice within a period of two weeks from State offices to 774 Local Government Areas, 8,809 electoral Wards and 176,846 polling units across the length and breadth of the country.
“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. Let me assure Nigerians that we are determined that all polling units nationwide will open at 8.30am on Saturday, 25th February 2023 for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and on Saturday, 11th March 2023 for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
“In order to ensure that personnel and materials will be at the polling units on Election Day awaiting the arrival of voters rather than the other way round, INEC requires large numbers of vehicles, including motorcycles, tricycles, boats and canoes in the riverine areas which cannot be met from its internal resources. It was for this reason that the Commission signed the first MoU with the NURTW in January 2015.
“Over the years, the Commission has come to rely on the partnership with the NURTW and NARTO to provide vehicles for the successful deployment of electoral personnel and materials. However, we did not incorporate the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN) within the ambit of the MoU, a situation which 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,” Prof. Yakubu said.
Speaking further, the INEC chairman urged the Unions and service providers involved to abide by the spirit and letter of the MoU and the contract agreements respectively. He appealed to them to 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 will be too late for the Commission to make alternative arrangements.
“A new requirement in the new electoral legal framework is that everyone involved in election duties must subscribe to the INEC Oath/Affirmation of Neutrality. We will therefore require your members to swear and strictly adhere to this oath and the INEC Code of Conduct for Electoral Officials as your participation in the delivery of electoral logistics requires 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.”
In his welcome remarks earlier delivered, the Host INEC REC (FCT) Alh. Yahaya Bello expressed optimism that the signing of the MOU will tackle the challenges identified in the logistics deployment of election materials for election administration and also encouraged Nigerians to go get their PVCs as INEC has started issuing them since Monday 12th December.
In his goodwill message, the National President NURTW, Tajudeen Baruwa promised that the unions will not disappoint Nigerians as the NURTW, NARTO and MWUN regards the assignment a core National Service they must deliver.
Meanwhile, the country Director of ActionAid, Ene Obi has described good governance as a precursor for poverty eradication also in her goodwill message. She added that an effective, functional and essential logistics support system is the beginning of credible, free and fair elections.