The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed plans to engage the Lagos State Parks Management Committee for the distribution of election materials and transportation of electoral officials in the state.
The West African Pilot News reports that Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, had written to INEC, requesting for the committee to assist the commission in the transportation of distribution of electoral materials on the election days in Lagos.
According to him, this was to avoid technical, logistics, and deployment challenges that could affect elections in the state.
But Atiku Abubakar, presidential candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) warned INEC against the use of the parks committee because MC Oluomo, the president, is an ally of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and, therefore, cannot be trusted with sensitive electoral materials.
Dismissing the speculations that engagement with the MC Oloumo-led committee would compromise INEC’s integrity, the Lagos State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, said the commission was more concerned with issues of motor parks administration in the state for the effective delivery of its election duties and not MC Oluomo.
“We are not dealing with Oluomo, we are dealing with the park managers. Individual people that have vehicles are those we are going to use,” Agbaje said on Tuesday.
“So, it will be working against the law if INEC has to continue to work with NURTW or any other group that is proscribed in the state.”
He, however, stressed that working with the state’s parks management committee would not reduce the credibility of the polls as the movement of the electoral personnel and materials would be monitored by security agencies, party agents and observers.
“At the Central Bank of Nigeria where they are going to move our materials, there will be security agencies and party agents including the military to monitor and escort these vehicles from CBN to the local government areas (LGAs),” Agbaje explained.
“So, I don’t see how this can compromise the election in any way. 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.”
He also revealed that INEC needs over 5,000 vehicles, including trucks and buses for the upcoming election, adding that the commission cannot “go to another state to bring vehicles because it is not allowed by law.”
