Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) Presidential Candidate, Atiku Abubakar has cautioned Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) against using the parks management committee to distribute election materials.
Atiku, in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Public Communication, Phrank Shaibu, using Lagos State Parks Management Committee led by Musiliu Akinsanya aka MC Oluomo to distribute sensitive electoral materials and transport election officials on election day, could jeopardise the objectives of the elections.
It would be recalled that the National Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, had on Tuesday held a meeting with the leadership of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW); Road Transport Employees Association of Nigeria (RTEAN) with the agreement that they would transport election officials and ballot papers to polling units on election day.
Shaibu, however, noted that Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State had banned the NURTW because the national leadership of the union suspended MC Oluomo, a loyalist of the All Progressives Congress candidate, Ahmed Tinubu.
Shaibu added that Sanwo-Olu had also banned RTEAN and then set up the Lagos State Parks Management Committee and appointed MC Oluomo the chairman so that he will have total control of the entire public commercial transport system of Lagos.
He stated, “It has been brought to our attention that INEC will be using members of the NURTW, RTEAN and other registered unions to transport election materials and electoral officials and corps members on election day. Unfortunately, in Lagos State, there is no NURTW or RTEAN as they have been proscribed by Governor Sanwo-Olu”
“Lagos is now operating a parks management committee led by MC Oluomo, who is a member of the APC Presidential Campaign Council. On October 9, 2022, he and his transport thugs held a march for Tinubu in several parts of Lagos State” Shaibu said.
According to Shaibu, “To preserve the sanctity of this election and ensure that there is no room for electoral malpractice, INEC must ensure that MC Oluomo is not allowed access to ballot papers. INEC should not make use of the state’s park committee. Rather, the commission should reach out to the national leadership of the NURTW and or engage the services of any logistic company for the purpose of distributing sensitive electoral materials in Lagos State,”
