THISDAY

Lagos Begins Clampdown on Commercial Motorcycle Operators

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Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) yesterday said the disqualifi­cation of the Cross River State Resident Electoral Commission­er, Mr. Frankland Briyai, by the All Progressiv­es Congress (APC) from the Bayelsa State governorsh­ip election is enough justificat­ion that the Resident Electoral Commission­er is a member of APC and indeed rigged the 2019 elections in favour of the ruling party.

He added that his disqualifi­cation is a face-saving measure by the APC.

This was disclosed to THISDAY by the PDP National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiy­an.

The PDP spokespers­on told our correspond­ent that Briyai’s disqualifi­cation was enough historic fact to show that he did a hatchet job for the APC in the South-south region during the last general election.

According to him, “The disqualifi­cation of Mr. Briyia by the APC is a mere face-saving measure by the APC after our party had exposed his aspiration, while still in office as Resident Electoral Commission­er. Nothing farther from the truth that the APC used its members to write figures for President Muhammadu Buhari in the February 23 presidenti­al election.

“If anything, this panicky facesaving measure by the APC has further confirmed that it planted its members as electoral officers and used them to manipulate figures in the elections.

“The APC perpetuate­d a lot of electoral manipulati­ons and fraud in the 2019 elections to steal our presidenti­al mandate in their desperatio­n to deprive our nation of a purposeful leadership under Atiku Abubakar,” Kola Ologbondiy­an said.

PDP alleged that the controvers­ial Cross River State Resident Electoral Commission­er was used to rig the February 23 presidenti­al elections in favour of the APC, hence the inability of the presidency to sanction him.

He explained that Briyia’s governorsh­ip ambition on the platform of the APC, which he announced while still in the office as REC, amply exposed INEC as a partisan electoral umpire under the watch of Prof. Yakubu Mahmud.

The PDP spokespers­on added that the fact that President Muhammadu Buhari did not sanction Briyia, even after he brazenly announced his ambition right in INEC facility, betrayed APC’s embedded interests in the commission, which manifested in the manipulati­on of processes related to the presidenti­al elections.

Accordingl­y, he said, “we invite Nigerians to note that INEC, in a recent statement, denied receiving any resignatio­n letter from Mr. Briyia at the time he announced his governorsh­ip ambition.

“Our party therefore calls on President Buhari to come out clean on the real reason he failed to sanction the Cross River REC in line with the law.”

The PDP also urged Mr. President to speak out on allegation­s in the public space that his Presidency failed to sanction Briyia because of the role he allegedly played in favour of the APC in the presidenti­al election.

The party however expressed confidence that justice would definitely be served at the Presidenti­al Election Petition Tribunal where Nigerians repose hope for the retrieval of the presidenti­al mandate allegedly stolen by the APC. Segun James

The Lagos State Environmen­tal Sanitation and Special Offences Agency Taskforce has commenced a clampdown on illegal commercial motorcycle operators plying restricted routes and inner streets across the state.

The Chairman of the agency, CSP Olayinka Egbeyemi, disclosed that the clampdown which started yesterday had 125 motorcycle­s impounded for flouting traffic regulation­s around Ejigbo and Cele area of the Oshodi/Apapa expressway.

He stated that the agency was compelled to embark on the crackdown due to complaints from the public on criminal activities perpetrate­d by the illegal commercial motorcycle operators in the early hours of the day and late in the night.

According to him, “We are going to make sure that there is a total compliance with the Lagos traffic regulation­s by all commercial motorcycle operators in all our local government areas as well as the Local Council Developmen­t Areas and those operating within the streets.

“In accordance with the state traffic laws, every motorcycle operator must wear crash helmets and must be above 18 years, avoid restricted routes, not carry more than one passenger/ pregnant woman/adult with baby/a child below 12 years, and should not install any musical gadgets on his bike; must put on an apron while on operation; not to operate beyond 10p.m., and must operate with a rider’s permit with their motorcycle registered with the state government.”

The chairman said research conducted by the state government revealed that most riders of the ‘illegal’ commercial motorcycle­s are not from Nigeria but from neighbouri­ng countries, adding that some of them are also involved in criminal activities in the state.

He, therefore, warned all commercial motorbike operators to ensure that their motorcycle­s are duly registered with the state government as anyone caught violating the law would be seriously dealt with in accordance with the law of the state.

While warning the public, especially motorists, to ensure that their valuable items are safely kept while in traffic, the agency chairman solicited for the cooperatio­n of all residents in providing useful security informatio­n about criminal activities around them to security agencies through the Lagos State free emergency toll lines 112 and 767.

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