THE Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Mahmood Yakubu, has assured corps members on election duty of premium security, noting that the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) plays a critical role in the election process.
Yakubu disclosed this on Friday in Abuja during a courtesy visit on the acting Director-General of the NYSC, Christy Uba.
The commission, he said, would continue to place a premium on the security of corps members on election duty.
The INEC chairman stated that the corps members operate at the polling units where citizens vote, which he described as the most important level of election.
“So, for that reason, we will also extend insurance cover in case of injury or other emergencies to all corps members involved in election duty.
“Working with the security agencies, we will also extend protection and security to the youth corps members’ lodges when they are deployed to the field on election days.
“This is because we have had some unhappy experiences before when some hoodlums raided the corps members’ lodges in some places, while they were on election duty.
“So, we will continue to take whatever step that is necessary to protect and guarantee the security and welfare of the corps members,’’ the chairman said.
Yakubu assured that the commission would continually operate within the framework of the existing Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the commission and the NYSC.
According to him there would be training and retraining of the ad hoc staff on how to handle technology during the 2023 elections.
“They will be responsible for the management of the polling units, management of election resources, including sensitive materials, accreditation of voters and using the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVRS) on election days,” he said.
Usman Mustapha is a solution journalist with International Centre for Investigative Reporting. You can easily reach him via: umustapha@icirnigeria.com. He tweets @UsmanMustapha_M