A court injunction has reportedly stopped the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from engaging the services of the chairman of the Lagos State Parks Management Committee, Musiliu Akinsanya, popularly known as MC Oluomo, to distribute election materials in the state.

Development Diaries reports that Justice Chukwujekwu Aneke of the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos State gave the order pending the hearing and determination of a suit filed by the Labour Party and five others.

Various Nigerians and political parties have recently condemned the decision by INEC to engage the Parks Management Committee to distribute election materials and convey personnel in the state for the 2023 elections.

This was due to obvious reasons – the committee is led by MC Oluomo, who is a member of the presidential campaign council of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).

However, the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, denied claims of any arrangement between INEC and MC Oluomo.

To this end, Development Diaries reiterates its call that INEC must exhibit transparency regarding the distribution and transportation of sensitive materials in all states of the federation before the election as citizens need to be assured of the transparency of the electoral process.

In fact, the Electoral Act 2022 provides that the commission can request the deployment of security personnel to transport sensitive materials in order to safeguard citizens’ votes.

This is where the commission needs to work closely with the Nigerian police and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC).

For security agencies, we call on them to publicise hotlines for citizens to make complaints, report incidents, or access information on incidents pre, during and post-elections as recommended by Yiaga Africa in one of its pre-election reports.