The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, Prof. Attahiru Jega, on Wednesday gave an assurance that the Commission would provide adequate and effective security arrangement for the corps members who will participate in the conduct of the February’s general election.
The said security arrangement, according to Jega, would be provided for the corps members before, during and after the polls.
Jega equally re-assured that the 2015 general elections will be better than previous elections in the country with the collaborative effort with the NYSC.
The INEC Chairman spoke in Abuja when received the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier General Johnson Olawumi, who paid him a courtesy visit in his office.
Jega promised that INEC would pay particular attention to the Memorandum of Understanding with the NYSC, especially in guaranteeing the security of corps members on election duty, and regretted the 2015 post-election violence.
He lauded the participation of corps members on the conduct of past elections, noting that since 2011, their participation has lifted the credibility and professionalism in the
conduct of elections.
Jega promised that the 2015 general elections will be better than previous elections with the collaborative effort with the NYSC.
He expressed happiness with the Election Security Committee established by the NYSC and assured Olawumi that INEC would do everything possible to meet the requirement.
Earlier, Olawumi warned corps members participating in this year’s general elections that they will be held responsible for any action they took during the conduct of the elections.
Olawumi reminded the corps members that they opted to participate in the polls out of their own volition by registering online.
The DG of NYSC however said the management still have a role to play in ensuring that the corps members were given adequate security.
According to him: “The arrangement (of recruiting corps members) is different with the corps members registering online and they did it voluntarily.
“The scheme will not be responsible for their conduct.
“This is also because none of them is less than 18 years.
“The corps members should be responsible for their conduct during the elections.”
Olawumi recalled that following the unfortunate post-election violence that led to the death of some corps members in 2011, the NYSC management set up an Election Security Committee with representatives from the military and other security agencies to review NYSC participation in future elections.
The Committee, he said, came out with recommendations on the need to provide conducive environments for the Corps members on election duty, their welfare and security, adding that the recommendations have been forwarded to the
INEC.
He expressed the hope that the recommendations would be considered and given adequate attention by the Commission.
Olawumi disclosed that since he assumed office last year, he has been preaching against misconduct by corps members on election duty.
He however appealed to the INEC Chairman to educate the Commission’s officials at the state and local government levels to extend the kind of good working relationship being enjoyed between the NYSC and INEC at the national level to the corps members posted to the areas to enhance their assignments.
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