By David Lawani, Abuja
The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Professor Joash Amupitan, has warned transport unions against delays in delivering election materials ahead of the 2026 Federal Capital Territory Area Council elections, while the unions pledged to improve their performance and ensure timely logistics.
Amupitan issued the warning during a meeting with leaders of the National Union of Road Transport Workers and the National Association of Road Transport Owners in Abuja, expressing dissatisfaction with their performance during the last Anambra State governorship election.
He described the experience as “almost a disaster,” citing faulty and unserviceable vehicles deployed for the exercise.
“So, we are not strangers to one another. However, we have noticed some challenges in relation to transport logistics, and we are very concerned,” he said.
“If I give you some examples, most especially at the last Anambra State election, it was almost a disaster because we were almost disappointed with the vehicles that were brought by the unions to transport sensitive materials. Some of the vehicles were out of order, and what we got was not in line with the Memorandum of Understanding that was signed.”
The INEC chairman disclosed that the Commission plans to hire about 1,132 vehicles from the unions for the FCT polls, noting that the election involves hundreds of candidates and requires efficient logistics.
“This time around, we are talking of hiring about 1,132 vehicles. For an election that will feature about 570 candidates and several councillorship positions, it is like a state election,” he said.
Amupitan stressed that the timely delivery of materials to polling units remained critical to the election’s success and credibility.
“An election for us is successful if we can mobilise materials, both sensitive and non-sensitive, to the polling units. We will want swift movement of materials, and you have a major responsibility to play,” he added.
He warned that the Commission would not tolerate excuses and urged the unions to ensure early deployment of vehicles and drivers.
“We don’t want to listen to any excuse, whether genuine or not,” he said, adding that the FCT, as the nation’s capital, would attract global attention.
“The Federal Capital Territory is the heart of Nigeria. The eyes of the whole world will be on us. Our target is that elections should commence at 8 am, which means materials must arrive at polling units between 7 and 7:30 am.”
In response, the transport unions assured INEC of their readiness to deliver materials promptly and acknowledged past challenges.
Director of Legal at NURTW, Mercy Ibeh, said the issues raised by INEC were already part of ongoing discussions between both parties.
“Many of the things you’ve mentioned actually are not very strange to us. These issues usually form part of our engagement, and we believe that if they are taken into consideration, most of the challenges will be sorted out,” she said.
She noted that the union had previously communicated some of the difficulties encountered during the Anambra election and called for support to strengthen its operational capacity.
“Perhaps you could put in a word for the Federal Government to empower the union with better vehicles because the union would always need to work with good and serviceable vehicles,” she added.
Also speaking, Chairman of the National Union of Road Transport Employers, FCT chapter, Dauda Abdullahi, acknowledged the challenges but assured that measures were being implemented to improve performance.
