Yesterday, commotion broke out in three local government areas of Lagos State, namely Ojo, Apapa, and Mushin, as members of the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee led by Mr. Musiliu Akinsanya, also known as MC Oluomo, threatened and stopped Independent National Electoral Committee (INEC) accredited vehicles from leaving the councils’ offices with election materials. This action took place despite the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) a few weeks ago between INEC and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) on the logistics involved in the movement of election materials.
The Lagos State Chapter Chairman of NARTO, Alhaji Kayode Odunowo, confirmed the development and stated that he had received reports from drivers in the three locations of harassment and threats by members of the Lagos Park and Garage Management Committee. He also mentioned that despite the presence of police officers, the Park and Garage Committee members still prevented drivers from moving materials out of those locations. According to him, the matter has been reported to the Executive members of NARTO, and he is awaiting their instructions before taking action.
Similarly, the Lagos State NARTO Task Force Chairman, Comrade Ridwan Bello, told Vanguard that the entire Lagos Island is under his charge, but the boys from the Lagos State Park and Garage Management Committee have stopped the movement of election materials. He further added that MC Oluomo’s boys are sabotaging the logistics process of the materials. He warned that if urgent steps are not taken to call Musiliu Akinsanya and his boys to order, the entire election process in Lagos State could be truncated.
Efforts to reach Jimoh Buhari, Spokesman for MC Oluomo, were futile as calls and text messages to his phone went unanswered, and the message was not responded to. When Vanguard contacted a close associate of MC Oluomo, the individual said that they were not sure that MC Oluomo would make any threat that could undermine Tinubu’s chances of winning today’s presidential election.
In his reaction, the Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner, Olusegun Agbaje, stated that “Election under my watch is on course. It’s not every issue that I must react to.” On his part, the INEC Commissioner for Voters Education, Mr. Festus Okoye, said: “I have not been briefed or informed of the incident, and it may be counterproductive to speculate. Nigerians are engaged with the electoral process, and we shall do all that is within our power to move materials and personnel to locations.”
