To offer the current APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu an unfair edge, various state governments in the South-West, where he is from, have suspended NURTW branches in their spheres in advance of the 2023 elections.



The National Union of Road Transport Workers and the electoral body, Independent National Electoral Commission, reached an agreement for effective logistics of election materials and workers during elections. The All Progressives Congress (APC) has been moving to illegally benefit from this agreement.


To offer the current APC presidential candidate Bola Tinubu an unfair edge, various state governments in the South-West, where he is from, have suspended NURTW branches in their spheres in advance of the 2023 elections.


According to SaharaReporters, the state administrations replaced NURTW with a park management system and chose their supporters to oversee the key parks.


"With regard to the transportation of vote boxes and their ad hoc workers as stakeholders, INEC and the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) established a memorandum of agreement.


"But I later learned that Lagos and the majority of the southwest states were suspending unions in order to allow their supporters to occupy parks and garages and work on election-related tasks.


So, with its supporters already in place to run the parks, the APC will transfer the ballot boxes for the election of Ogun, Lagos, and Ondo states, a source in the NURTW told SaharaReporters on Thursday.


"They have seized power in certain states and are advancing into other ones. As park supervisors, they are employing their supporters "Added another source.


For instance, Tinubu supporter Musiliu Akinsanya, often known as MC Oluomo, was chosen as the chair of a committee to manage all of the state's car parks and garages in April by Lagos Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.


His appointment came hours after MC Oluomo was fired as the Chairman of the Lagos State chapter of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).


The government established the Parks Management Committee in order to fulfill its pledge to make sure that events NURTW would not pose a threat to peace and order. Gbenga Omotoso, the commissioner for information and strategy, announced the appointment in a statement.


The statement had stated, "Therefore, the government has employed its constitutional authorities to ensure that no vacuum, which can undermine the calm of our cherished state is permitted to remain in the parks.


Before the governorship election on July 16, there was unrest in many of the motor parks in Osogbo, the state capital, as some NURTW members claimed that the union's leadership was trying to extend their tenure illegally. They urged the state government to take control of the motor parks and place them under a park management team, as is the case in Lagos, Ondo, Oyo, and Ogun states.


In order to ensure effective logistics for the 2019 general elections, INEC and transport unions renewed their Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) in December 2018 in Abuja.


Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, claimed that the commission needed more than 100,000 cars to transport workers and supplies from state headquarters to 119,973 polling places and 8,809 electoral wards across 774 local government areas.


"INEC needs more than 100,000 automobiles to fulfill this pledge. The logistical requirements exceed INEC's internal capacity.


“It is for this reason that the Commission has been in partnership with NURTW for which an MOU was first signed with the union in January 2015," he said.

 

In September 2021, INEC and the road transport unions met again to review the implementation of the (MoU) jointly signed ahead of the 2019 general elections and other polls.


NURTW and the Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NATO) are involved in the agreement. 

According to the Chief Technical Assistant to INEC Chairman, Prof. Bolade Ayila, the review of the MoU was necessary ahead of the Anambra governorship election conducted in late 2021 and the 2023 general polls.