Nigerians were once again caught in a vicious circle following the sudden postponement of Saturday’s general elections by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the poor treatment of corps members deployed as adhoc staff for the elections. INEC postponed the presidential and National Assembly elections till 23, February 2019, while the governorship and house of assembly elections have also been shifted from March 2 to March 9.
INEC’s chairman Professor Mahmood Yakubu attributed the suspension of the scheduled elections to logistics and operational problems.He said it would afford the commission the opportunity to address the identified challenges in order to maintain the quality of Nigeria’s elections.Nigerian elite and other electorate in their millions condemned the decision describing it as a threat to democracy.Some of the major victims of the postponement were the corps members that INEC deployed as ad hoc staff.
The problem
The welfare of ad hoc staff for general elections, especially corps members has always been a topic of worry in this part of the world. It has become a tradition that in each season of electioneering, young people selected as temporary umpires are faced with challenges such as insecurity or lack of good plans for accommodation; thereby exposing them to the risks of death and attack. Read more