The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has assured the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to be deployed in Saturday’s Anambra governorship election of their safety and prompt payment of election duty allowances.
INEC Chairman, Joash Amupitan, in an interview with newsmen in Awka on Wednesday, said nobody would hold back their election duty allowances.
He said that the issue of welfare and safety of the corps members serving as election ad hoc staff remained paramount to the commission and security agencies.
Amupitan described the corps members as key stakeholders working with INEC for the success of the election.
“We are doing everything to ensure that we use them in uniform so that they can distinguish them from others, and we don’t use people within who are already partisan.
“As far as their allowances are concerned, we made an agreement. Let me also say that the commission has provided everything.
“Everything that we need for this Anambra election, I think the commission has provided everything.
“If there’s anything, maybe it’s a balance of whatever, but all those things will be adequately addressed, including allowances for corpers,’’ he said.
On security arrangements for the safety of the corps members, Amupitan said the security agencies for the election under the coordination of the Nigerian Police had already assured INEC that they had been made to protect people on election duties.
Amupitan advised electoral officers in the governorship election to be neutral in discharging their electoral duties, urging them to provide a level playing ground for all the candidates and political parties.
He urged politicians to play by the rules, not to see the election as a “do-or-die’’ affair, while emphasising the need for the electorate in the state to shun vote buying.
“The electorate should come out and vote. Let us end this era of voters’ apathy. They should vote according to their conscience.
Amupitan said that the commission, on its part, was committed to conducting the best, peaceful and highly successful election, which was probably going to be a model for other elections.
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