…Says rumour of INEC in agreement with Oluomo is mischievous
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has denied signing any contracts with the transport unions.
According to a National Commsioner for Information and Voter Education, Barr. Festus Okoye, INEC has no contract with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW)and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).
Okoye made the clarification on Thursday when he appeared on a political TV program- 2023 Verdict on Channels Tv .
Okoye was apparently addressing the widespread reports that the commission had signed a contract with Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, the chairman of NUTRW.
He said INEC only signed an MoU with individual drivers and not with the union.
“For the 2023 general election, this commission is going to hire at least 138,000 vehicles and we have hired vehicles in the past. This commission is going to hire at least 4000 boats; we have hired boats in the past. And we’re going to hire over 88,000 motorcycles”
“Now, the commission enters into individual contracts with the vehicle owners. We do not enter into any form of contract with the union. What we have with the National Union of Road Transport Workers, and with the National Association of Road Transport Owners, and with the Marine Unions, is what we call a Memorandum of Understanding’
“We don’t enter into contract with them. So, the issue of the name of an individual being mentioned, to the effect that the individual is going to provide all the vehicles the commission needs for the purposes of this election is just mischief, it’s just mischievous.
“We have contracts with individual drivers. What the union does for us is that we enter into an MoU with them, and sometimes in a situation where an individual driver absconds, they help us locate the driver”
“In a situation where a driver does not turn up on time, they know their members, they help us find out why the individual has not turned up on time.”
