The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) in Rivers State says its youth corp members will not serve as ad-hoc staff for the Independent national Electoral Commission during this Saturday’s supplementary legislative re-run election in Etche Local Government Areas of the state.
The Rivers NYSC Coordinator, Mr. Omotoye Adewoyi made this known yesterday at a stakeholders meeting at Police Command headquarters, Port Harcourt.
INEC, Service Commanders, political parties and various candidates for the Saturday’s legislative re-run election attended the meeting.
Adewoyi stated that the decision by the leadership of Rivers NYSC to restrain its members from participating in the forth coming election in Etche was predicated on crisis and violence that characterized the last re-run elections held in the state.
According to him, the National headquarters of NYSC has directed that Youth Corps members should not be allowed for now to participate in the election till further notice, adding that the Rivers NYSC Secretariat would stand by the national directive.
The State NYSC boss warned that any youth corps member who would want to go against the directive and participate during the election would be doing so at his or her own risk, adding that the commission will not account for such individual.
“We are not going to participate in this election because of the crisis that greeted the elections in the state in the past. We have always been on the receiving side, paying the supreme price where some times we lost our members.”
“This time we are not going to be involved in such risk that is why I have to come to this meeting to inform the INEC on this development.
Although, we have trained 300 Corps members who are willing to participate in the election but until further directive, any Corp members who act contrary is alone,” he added.
Adewoyi noted that the MoU signed between the NYSC and INEC on the conduct of elections in the state was not adhered to, adding that the NYSC does not have what it takes to protect the Corp members’ security wise during the election.
Also speaking, the acting Commissioner of Police in the state, DCP Ahmed Magaji explained that the essence of the interactive session was to ensure that absolute peace was promoted in the area during the election.
Magaji told the audience that adequate security has been put in place to ensure free violence during and after the election, even as he warned politicians to play the game by the rules governing the election as anybody found violating the rules would be arrested and prosecuted.
In his own speech, the State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Elder Aniedi Ikowiak said the Commission was prepared to conduct a free fair and credible election in the LGA, adding that sensitive materials for the election would be distributed this Friday in the area.
He said that the election will take place at 147 poling units for the Federal legislative elections, while the election for the State House of Assembly for Etche constituency 11 will be holding in 74 units in the area. He was emphatic that the use of card readers will hold sway at the election.
In their separate speeches, the state Deputy Chairmen for All Progressives Congress (APC), Prince Odike Peter, Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Charles Awotu and all the candidates for the election thanked the Police for the meeting and assured that the parties and their supporters will abide by the rules of the election.