Abuja- The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday in Abuja signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on election logistics with the National Union Of Road transport Workers (NURTW).
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Attahiru Jega, who confirmed the development, said it was the belief of the commission that the MoU would go a long way in improving its work.
He said that the MoU would also help to address some problems associated with election logistics, especially the recurring delay in transporting electoral officers and election materials on election days.
“The objective of the MoU is to ensure that election materials and electoral officers get to the polling units on time and also to ensure that they get to collation centres at the appropriate time.
“I believe that this will also help us to solve most of the challenges associated with electoral processes,’’ Jega said.
He, however, urged the union to do everything possible to ensure full implementation of the agreement.
He said that the commission looked forward to working with the union in the conduct of credible elections in the country.
On his part, the National Chairman of NURTW, Dr Najeem Yasin, said that the union would not disappoint INEC in the implementation of the MoU, saying that every chapter of the union would be involved.
Yasin said that the union would not hesitate to sanction any of its members or state chapter that would default in the implementation of the agreement.
“Any state chairman that plays with this exercise will stand the risk of losing his seat as the chairman of NURTW of that state. We should not undermine our integrity.
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“I and other national officers are going to monitor each state, each vehicle they are given, the drivers and their character before they are allowed to participate,’’ he said.
Yasin said that national officers of the union would try their best to keep record of drivers and vehicles that would participate in the distribution of election materials.
“The NURTW of today is different from the one you knew yesterday,’’ he said.
He, however, urged INEC Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to work closely with the union’s state chapters for successful implementation of the agreement.
He also advised members of the union not to allow themselves to be used as political thugs to cause violence during the elections.
“We are all Nigerians and we should not allow anybody to use us to cause violence,’’ he said. (NAN)
