2023 Elections: INEC guarantees the security of corps members

The Independent National Electoral Commission informed the National Youth Service Corps members on Thursday that their safety is a top concern in the upcoming elections.

Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, Chairman of INEC, provided the assurance during a courtesy visit to the INEC headquarters in Abuja by the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General Yushau Ahmed.

INEC and the leadership of the NYSC had signed a Memorandum of Understanding on the deployment of corps members as ad hoc personnel for the general election.

Yakubu indicated that security will be given not just for corps members sent to polling locations, but also for their camps.

“No electoral body in the world conducts elections on the strength of its own regular staff members,” he remarked. INEC is fortunate to have such a big pool of individuals on national service to supplement us.

“We are worried about the corps members’ comfort, safety, and security. We shall continue to make them feel at ease before deploying them to polling units.

“You inquired about their safety following the elections. I have stressed to the National Union of Road Transport Workers leadership that Corps members must not be abandoned after the elections, but rather returned to base.

“On training, we are training them in camp, so that by the time they are deployed they are already trained. I want to tell you that those in Enugu and Kano would have been trained before they leave camp on February 14.

“We will collaborate to train them ahead of their deployment. We shall follow the terms of the MOU we signed with the NYSC. We’re like Siamese twins, and we’ll keep working together.

“Be confident that the security of the corpers will be prioritized; we are also worried. It’s a call to arms.”

Earlier in his remarks, Brigadier Ahmed told the INEC Chairman that his agency “would work hard to ensure that all the terms and conditions of MOU are fulfilled.