From TERESE TUHWA, Makurdi
The Benue state secretary, National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) Benue state branch comrade Stephen Akintola has expressed fear that the 2023 general election billed to commence February 25th, 2023 may not hold if the nation’s current state of affairs is urgently not checked.
The NURTW scribe made bare his mind Tuesday in an interview with The Nigeria Standard in his office in Makurdi saying as one of the major stakeholder in the electoral process, it will be difficult for the union to assist the commission in transporting electoral materials to designated areas given the current astronomic rise in price of premium motor spirit (fuel).
He said for the nation to have a seamless and successful electoral process, it was incumbent on concerned authorities to do the needful by closely monitoring the distribution of petroleum product from the Jetty, depots down to the filing stations and called for a strong synergy between the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and Nigeria National Petroleum Corporation Limited (NNPCL) for a better logistical arrangement.
He maintained that the petroleum product was indispensable in the transportation of the commission’s personnel and sensitive materials to registration centres and polling units, revealing that already the commission has signed a tripartite memorandum of understanding with NURTW, NATO and the maritime to assist in the distribution of both sensitive materials and personnel during the polls.
Commenting on current hike in price of premium motor spirit (fuel), comrade Akintola faulted a situation where the nation’s crude oil product was still being refined out side the country amidst four refineries in the country, disclosing that already saboteurs have taken advantage of the current situation to exploit the citizens.
He revealed that those feeding fat from the current fuel bottle necks are head bent to ensure that the situation continues thereby leaving fuel consumers in the mercy of independent marketers who he said are buying products from private refineries at exorbitant rates.