Reps Seek Employment For Corps Members Affected By Electoral Violence

By Oduyemi Odumade

The House of Representatives has urged the Federal Government to offer employment to members of the National Youth Service Scheme (NYSC), who were victims of violence, while serving as electoral officials in the 2023 general election.

This is Sequel to the adoption of a motion by Emmanuel Ukpong–Udo, on the “need to employ Corps Members who were victims of electoral violence into the civil service or INEC.

In his lead debate, Mr Ukpong-Udo stated that INEC engaged about 200,000 corps members as ad-hoc staff during the 2023 general election.

According to him, Corps Members constituted about 80 per cent of ad-hoc staff deployed by INEC for the conduct of the last general election.

He expressed worry that some of the corps members “were reported to have been victims of election violence, sustaining injuries from gunshots and matchets, during the polls”.

The House notes that despite facing threats, the corps members remained committed in ensuring that the 2023 elections were conducted in accordance with their assigned roles”.

“Their sacrifice for this important national assignment, there is need to employ the corps members who were victims of the election violence to compensate for their losses and encourage future participation.” he said.

The House therefore mandated the NYSC and the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to produce a comprehensive list of corps members, who participated in the conduct of the elections and are victims of electoral violence.

Edited By Grace Namiji