By Chris Onuoha

Traders at the Auto Spare Parts and Machinery Dealers Association(ASPMDA), Lagos, Badagry Express way, Lagos, closed their shops and trooped out en masse to protest against its caretaker committee.

The traders carried placards with inscriptions like, “Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu intervene in the crisis in ASPMDA,” “We are tired of the caretaker committee,” “Lagos state government dissolve the caretaker committee” and so on.

Addressing the media at the end of the protest, one of the leaders of the Coalition of Political Groups, stakeholders, Youths and Women Forum, Udo Okezie, said that sometime in August 2021, events prevailing in the market compelled them to address the press on the failure, inability and outright refusal of the caretaker committee which was set up by the Lagos State government and headed by Sir Sunny Igboanuzue as chairman, to conduct election for the new executive of the auto spare market.

According to him, after the press conference, the Lagos state governor summoned a meeting of the major stakeholders which included the caretaker committee chairman, presidential candidates of the various parties in the market and other stakeholders.

He said that part of the decisions reached at the meeting was for the caretaker committee chairman to notify the governor within two weeks of the meeting whether he would want to contest for the president of the market or not.

According to him, that was after the governor had shown great dissatisfaction over the caretaker committee chairman’s failure to carry out the orders of the Lagos state government, which was to conduct election immediately.

Okezie said that since the meeting, the caretaker committee chairman has not shown any evidence of complying with the directive, adding that he has also not called a general meeting of ASPMDA members or its stakeholders on the way forward.

However, he said that what the caretaker committee chairman has done is, without the consent of the general assembly of ASPMDA, assembled his friends, relations and others who want to illegally retain him in power and called them electoral committee that would organise election for ASPMDA.

Furthermore, he said that the caretaker committee chairman has without the approval of the general house, illegally constituted a body and tagged them identity card committee for the election.

According to him, by this act, what he intends to achieve is to issue identity cards to his friends, towns men and political affiliates as those authorized to vote in ASPMDA election, thereby creating room for fraud and election malpractice.

He said that by the identity card he set up, all the members of the other political parties and those that are against him would not be issued with identity cards, thereby denying them of the right to vote.

His words: “In view of the foregoing, we hereby plead for the attention of his Excellency, the Lagos State governor and pray as follows;

“To dissolve the caretaker committee in the interest of justice and fairness, for the Lagos state government to set up a new caretaker committee with a mandate to conduct election within 45 days of its inauguration for ASPMDA;

“To direct that any election to be conducted shall be block by block in the interest of justice, which will also enhance compliance with COVID-19 rules.”

Vanguard News Nigeria