Fuel scarcity puts our plans in danger —INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is worried that the country’s ongoing fuel shortage could make it hard to run the elections.

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of INEC, said this on Tuesday in Abuja at a consultation with the NURTW, the National Union of Road Transport Workers.

Yakubu said that the Commission would meet with the management of the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, later on Tuesday to talk about how to fix the situation.

“The Commission shares your worry about the country’s gasoline situation and how it will affect travel on election day. The truth is that if some things are unavailable, our arrangements may suffer.

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“Because of this, the Commission and the Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited (NNPCL) will meet this afternoon to talk about possible solutions.”

“I want to reassure Nigerians that we will keep working with all national institutions to make the 2023 general election successful,” Yakubu stated.

He said that the meeting with NURTW officials was to finish carrying out the Memorandum of Understanding, or MoU, that the Commission and the Union had signed on December 20, 2022.

In view of the importance the commission places on the safety of election officials and supplies, it would also come to a judgment about the guidelines for the certification of cars by the Federal Road Safety Corps, or FRSC.

He claims that the logistics issue has consistently plagued Nigeria’s election management.

“For the past three electoral cycles, INEC and the road transport unions have worked together to address the issue.”

“The Marine Workers’ Union of Nigeria, or MWUN, is part of the Commission so that the general election in 2023 can be carried out well on the water.”

Now is the time to stop making excuses and offer good logistics to make sure everything goes smoothly on election day.