We Are Not Working With NURTW, RTEAN To Distribute Election Materials, says Lagos INEC

Akin Olayemi

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos state has said it is not working with members of the defunct National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Road Transport Employers Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) in the distribution of election materials across Lagos state.

According to the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje said working with the defunct associations will amount to violating the laws.

The commission also dissociated itself from the letter allegedly written by the former chairman of the defunct National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) in Lagos, Alhaji Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

In the said letter written to the Commission, MC Oluomo was said to have requested the Lagos INEC to grant him the responsibility of distributing electoral materials on election day.

Reacting to the demand, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, said the commission is more concerned with issues of motor parks administration in Lagos state for its election duties and not MC Oluomo.

Agbaje who spoke at a meeting with representatives of security agencies under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security held at the Commission’s secretariat in Lagos on Tuesday, stated categorically that the Commission will not be working with the disbanded NURTW and RTEAN, saying it will amount to going against the law.

He said, “On the issue of MC Oluomo, the commission is not concerned with Oluomo. We are concerned with the issue of motor parks administration in Lagos state.

For the past two years, the Lagos State government has banned the operations of the NURTW and RTEAN in the state. They had problems and the state government banned them.

So we are left with Lagos State Park and Garages and the National Association of Road Transport Owners(NARTO).

And we are already working with NARTO and definitely it is not able to meet up with the 40 per cent needs of the commission for this election.

And the commission does not have any other option than to use the park and Garages Management system.
We are not dealing with MC Oluomo, we are dealing with park managers. They are individual persons that have vehicles that we are going to use for the elections.
The law has already ban the NURTW from operating in the state so we cannot violate the law by patronising them.
It will be we working against the law if we have to be working with the banned associations. So it cannot work.”

Agbaje reiterates the Commission’s resolve to fairness and level playing field for all parties in the elections.

He said, “But in working with other groups, don’t forget that, from where they are going to move the electoral materials, we are going to have security personnel and party agents including the military that are going to escort these materials to various local government areas. So I don’t see how this can compromise the election.
The party agents will be there to witness the distribution of the materials.

They will be on the entourage to see that there is no stoppage on the way until they get to local government where they are going to offload the materials.

I don’t see how this will compromise the election in any way. I just want the politicians to see the peculiarity in Lagos state.

We need over 5000 vehicles for this election including trucks and buses to carry our staff and materials for the elections. There is no other way to go about.
We cannot go to other state to bring vehicles because it is not allowed by law.
We can’t work against the law. In fact most of the members of the NURTW are already working with the Lagos State Parks and Garages Management.
You will find out that while the law is banning them there is still an open space for them to work to get money and we are dealing with individual drivers and bus owners and not with their authority or people that have political undertone.
And we have told those we are going to work with that branded buses are not allowed on election day.
Anybody driving cars or buses with logo of political parties will not be allowed.

This is also to make sure that we detach ourselves from infiltration by any political party or politicians.

What is important to us in INEC is that we have a challenge of over 5000 vehicles and we have an area where we can source that from. This has not or will not in anyway compromised the election.”

Also speaking, Commissioner of Police in Lagos state, Abiodun Alabi appealed to security agencies to play their roles and work collectively to achieve a peaceful and free election.

He said, “I don’t have much to say but to reassure all of us that we are preparing assiduously towards the forthcoming elections in terms of election security and to make the environment conducive for free and fair election.

I just want to thank all of you because of recently we have been having campaigns and rallies from the two main political parties and with your collaboration, we have been having a peaceful environment devoid of any security challenges.

I just want to urge all of us to keep on doing what we have been doing, to keep on synergising and collaborating so that we have a success story to tell in Lagos state.

I am happy the REC said it that the state has been very peaceful but we are not relent on our oars. We are anticipating that there could be hitches but we are always ready to contend with it.

But by the grace of God it will not happen. Anyone who want to come up with any funny behaviour, we are battle ready to contend with it.

I appeal to all of us to play our roles and work collectively to achieve a peaceful and free election.”

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