By Goodluck Ikiebe
The Chairman, Board of Trustees (BoT) of the Road Users Development Network of Nigeria (aka Traffic Update Family) has described as clandestine activity known as “election” that took place after the departure of the BoT Chairman and most members at a meeting held on Sunday.
The protracted meeting, which started at 10am had the BoT and some founding members of the organisation leaving the venue at about 3:45pm, only to find on social media that chauvinistic prejudice permeated that floor as concorted by faceless members, who are ready to do the right thing.
In a statement issued in Abuja, Dr John John Uket, Chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT) has strongly dissociated himself, the BoT and the entire association from any form of election that was said to have been conducted by the body as he explained that such could be a media prank or fake news peddled by perceived factions, who are out to disintegrate the body or hijack its structure for their personal gains.
He added that, there was no communication or notice indicating that there will be any election on such date as he stated.
He said that even few hours to the meeting, in a phone conversation with Mr Chimeze Obi, Chairman of the Caretaker Committee, made it clear that there will not be any election until after the forthcoming break or holidays.
“The Road Users Development Network of Nigeria, is voluntary organisation that facilitates road safety through reportage and information dissemination”,
The Network, which is incorporated with the Corperate Affairs Commission in Nigeria, aims to achieve a decade of good road users compliance whereby all Nigerians will take responsibility while on the road via accurate and useful information that will aid traffic management, road safety, abate road crimes, and of course assist agencies of government on making roads safer.
The statement says the purported election is not only discrediting but a hoax of the 21st century.
“This is predicated on the inability to ensure transparency and fairness in the electioneering process.
The unequivocal abuse of electoral procedures were not only obvious but are in perpetual breach of certain provisions of section XIV and XV of the association bye-laws.
“It was gathered that the atmosphere of rancour, acrimony and turbulence, which characterized the day necessitated the appeal to only have an election on a new date that will bring decorum to the body”, the statement added.
Moreso, taking into cognizance the fact that the Caretaker Committee conducting the elections did not publish the names of contestants, there was no campaign by contestants, manifestoes were not presented by the candidates and as such it is highly discreditable to hold an election without recourse to these democratic apparatus as core fundamental principles.
Furthermore, the agenda of the meeting never provided for the conduct of an election on that date but an update on the proposed election, which could be interpreted to be a mechanism to usher in the proper electioneering process in view of the conduct of an election.
Worrisome is the resignation of the Caretaker committee on the floor of the meeting, which signaled grave danger and doom to have an election in the same meeting after key principal officials of the association have departed.
The stepping aside of the Caretaker Committee begged for questions and as such it will be a mystery to have conducted an election thereafter except they have been spelled with fear and must have been subjected under duress.
Therefore, it is pertinent to state herein that the purported election is a hoax and members of the public should distance themselves from having a dealing with the said elected officials until a credible, fair and transparent election is conducted in the future. It is point clear that an election of the said body is expected to have observers from linkage bodies from both the public and private sectors but this was fundamentally flawed by power drunk factions in the body.
Dr Uket furthermore tasked members to be calm and not be distracted by any move that aims to destroy the association, while also lauding all members for their commitment and raising the bar of responsibility.
He finally called on all members to keep the flag of the body high in ensuring that the roads are safe and ensuring proper traffic management across the country.
