INEC needs 800,000 vehicles for smooth polls in 2019, FRSC reveals

The Federal Roads Safety Corps (FRSC) has disclosed that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would need about 800,000 vehicles to conduct high-free general elections in 2019.

Corps Marshal, Boboye Oyeyemi, disclosed this yesterday in Abuja at a National Stakeholders Forum on Elections organised by the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room.

Represented by Assistant Corps Marshal (ACM) Victor Nwokolo, he said apart from vehicles, camels, donkeys, motorcycles and tricycles would be part of the number of vehicles required for the 2019 elections.

He disclosed that the commission would inspect the vehicles 24 hours to the elections to ensure their roadworthiness for the exercise.

He added that the INEC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) to ensure safety and availability of the vehicles.

INEC Commissioner, Festus Okoye, who represented the INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, disclosed that incident forms would not be used during the elections to conform to global best practices in elections.

Convener of Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, charged citizens and civil society groups not to be intimidated by politicians, or the ruling elite, but remain courageous in ensuring a transparent and credible elections next year.

Meanwhile, a non-governmental organisation, Action Aid, has cautioned that vote buying would threaten the 2019 elections.

Action Aid Country Representative Ene Obi stated this during its activities to mark the World Anti-corruption celebration through its Strengthening Citizens Resistance Against Prevalence of Corruption, (SCRAP-C) project.

Director of Finance Action Aid Oluwole Elegbinde, said the fight against corruption was a collective responsibility of both the government and the citizens.

Another speaker at the forum, Olushola Akintola, said vote buying is a criminal offence as contained in the electoral act 2010 as amended, adding that there is a punishment for the buyer and the seller to be sentenced to a minimum of 12month jail term and a fine of N100, 000.

In a related development, Plateau State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Haliru Pai, has expressed concerns about the unwillingness of some registered voters in the state to collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

He disclosed that out of the 459,896 registered voters, only 120,114 have collected their PVCs as at November 30, 2018, describing the development as disenchanting and discouraging.