– We are committed to Transparent, credible elections- Jamoh
Vincent Toritseju
Lagos — Following the near crisis situation brewing in the Chartered Institute of Transport Administration of Nigeria, CIOTA, the body has suspended the electoral process for the 2022 General Elections of its national executives.
Recall that a former Director General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency, NIMASA, has been tipped to be the next President of the Institute without going through due process.
In a statement by the Publicity Secretary of CIOTA, Mrs. Chizoba Anyika,
Said that Chairman of Council and President CIOTA Dr Bashir Jamoh and the National Secretary, Honorable Chinda Evans Ogbuji, jointly signed a resolution at an emergency meeting of NEC noting that this decision was taken in line with the provisions of paragraph 6, sub paragraph3 of the first schedule of the Establishment Act of CIOTA signed into law in 2019 by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The National Executive Committee said the decision was to save the entire electoral process and reiterated its commitment to having a transparent and credible elections and hand over of power to the next administration.
Jamoh said that the National Executive Committee is under oath to serving the institute selflessly.
“We had to take this decision to save the entire electoral process. NEC have received several complaints about the process such as Ad-Hoc Electoral Committee levying interested members for expression of interest form without approval of NEC, non-publication of all vacant elective positions, restriction of collection and submission of nomination forms to just one week instead of the 5 weeks to election date as stipulated in the CIOTA Act, non-adherence to eligibility criteria as contained in the Institute’s Act, and lack of transparency and fairness in the entire process amongst other allegations,” Jamoh said.
We shall not condone any act by anybody or group of persons to bring the Institute to disrepute. The Electoral Committee should not allow itself to be coerced into taking actions that will set bad precedence that will injure the reputation of CIOTA. I am glad about the level of interest in CIOTA electoral process. It’s a testament to the enviable standards we have taken the Institute to.
We are committed to ensuring fair play in the conduct of elections. All interested aspirants must be given equal opportunity and a level playing field. All actions leading to the elections must be in line with the CIOTA ACT 2019. CIOTA is a creation of the Law and as such must be guided by provisions of its enabling Act. Being the Exco that midwifed the enactment of the CIOTA Act in 2019, we will not condone any action contrary to the Act and constitution of the Institute on election matters.
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