No contracting of election materials logistics to NURTW, others – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has debunked that the commission has contracted the logistics of the 2023 general election materials to the National Union of Road Transport Workers, NURTW in Lagos state, and other transport unions.

The INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this while speaking in an interview on Channels Television’s programme, The 2023 Verdict programme on Thursday.

Recall that there have been reports that the INEC in Lagos State has contracted the election logistics to the Lagos State Parks Management Committee led by Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.

He said, “So, the issue of the name of an individual being mentioned to the effect that the individual is going to provide all the vehicle that the commission needs or for the purposes of this election is just mischievous.”

According to Okoye, the commission does not have any contract with the body or any other transport unions.

He further stated, “For the 2023 election, this Commission is going to hire at least 138,000 vehicles and we have hired vehicles in the past. This Commission is going to hire at least 4,000 boats; we have hired boats in the past, and this Commission will hire at least 88,000 motorcycles.

“Now the Commission enters into individual contracts with the vehicle owners; we don’t enter into any form of contract with the union. What we have with the National Union of Road Transport Workers and with the National Association of Road Transport Owners and the Marine Union is what we call a Memorandum of Understanding.

“We don’t enter into a contract with them. So, the issue of the name of an individual being mentioned to the effect that the individual is going to provide all the vehicle that the commission needs or for the purposes of this election is just mischievous.”

Okoye said INEC’s MoU with the transport unions is for accountability in case a driver absconds or does not turn up for duty.

He noted that the commission deals with each state according to their peculiarity, adding that the Supervising National Commissioner in Lagos State has assured of a hitch-free arrangement.

The INEC National Commissioner added that the electoral umpire and other observers are satisfied with the performance of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during the mock accreditation exercise recently conducted in 436 polling units.

He said the BVAS can capture the fingerprints of registered voters or their facials, adding that Nigerians, who participated in the exercise expressed satisfaction with it and commended the Commission for the advancement.

((TNT)