The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it would need 100,000 vehicles and about 4,200 boats for the 2023 general election.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this during the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the road transportation and marine workers’ unions to facilitate efficient and successful logistics delivery for the 2023 general election on Tuesday.

The unions include the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and the Maritime Workers Union of Nigeria (MWUN).

Yakubu said: “The signing of a revised MoU with the road and marine transport unions today is a demonstration of our determination to implement key recommendations of the review exercise to enhance forward and reverse logistics in our electoral operations.

“The 2023 general election will involve the nationwide deployment of over one million personnel and massive quantities of materials twice within a period of two weeks from our state offices to 774 Local Government Areas; 8,809 Electoral Wards and 176,846 polling units across the length and breadth of our country.

“It will require over 100,000 vehicles and about 4,200 boats that will be accompanied by naval gunboats.

“This is a huge undertaking that must be accomplished in the next 66 days and we are resolute in doing so, to give Nigerians a pleasant voting experience.”

The INEC boss assured Nigerians that the commission was determined that all polling units nationwide would open at 8.30 a.m. on February 25, 2023, for the Presidential and National Assembly elections and on March 11, 2023, for the Governorship and State House of Assembly elections.

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Yakubu said in order to ensure that personnel and materials arrived polling units before voters on election day, INEC required large numbers of vehicles, including motorcycles, tricycles, boats, and canoes in the riverine areas which could not be met from its internal resources.

He recalled that INEC signed the first MoU with the NURTW in January 2015, reviewed it in December 2018 to incorporate NARTO, but did not incorporate the MWUN within the ambit of the MoU.

The situation, according to him, has often resulted in logistics nightmares in the deployment and retrieval of personnel and materials to the riverine areas of the country.

“This oversight is now addressed by the revised MoU to include MWUN, comprising of sailors, dockworkers, and those in related trades in our electoral logistics planning and delivery,” he added.

The INEC chairman advised the leadership of the unions to effectively supervise their members in the various chapters and branches for the full implementation of the MoU.

Yakubu also urged them to work very closely with INEC and collaborate with the Federal Regulatory and Safety Agencies to ensure that the objectives of the MoU were fully realised in terms of required road/sea worthiness and safety standards of your vehicles and boats.

He said that the new MoU required that all the union members involved in election duties swore and abide by the INEC Oath/Affirmation of Neutrality and the INEC Code of Conduct for Electoral Officials as their participation in the delivery of electoral logistics required absolute neutrality and non-partisanship.

Yakubu assured the union that INEC would work with security agencies to protect them and their vehicles in the course of the assignment.

Also speaking at the event, the National President of the NURTW, Tajudeen Baruwa, said the signing of the MoU marked the beginning of the journey for the successful conduct of the 2023 general election.

Baruwa said the three unions would do everything possible to be neutral and ensure successful implementation of the MoU.

On his part, the MWUN National President, Dr Adeyaju Adewale, commended INEC for extending the service to maritime workers, pledging that the union would support the electoral umpire to make the elections successful.

The Star