INEC may jeopardize elections in Ebonyi

Posted by admin Articles, Columnists Tuesday, March 29th, 2011

By Muhammed Ajah, NNP – March 29, 2011 – There may be trouble in Ebonyi state if the Professor Attahiru Jega-led Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) fails to pay people who worked for it during the last registration exercise

The INEC had contracted, among others, serving or recent youth corps members for the exercise that lasted over two weeks with a blanket payment of N30,000 for each. Ebonyi has 13 local government areas and the number of corps members serving in the state is small. Again, Ebonyi has very many rural areas where many corps members detest serving, as in some other parts of the country.

The State INEC had decided to send some of the corps members serving in the urban areas to the rural areas, since they were in excess in the urban. Apart from the fact that some of the members refused to go into the bushes to serve their country, there were still shortages in the manpower needed for the success of the exercise.

This made some patriotic electoral officers in some local governments to immediately recruit some known youths to rescue the situation. The exercise is over and Ebonyi was not found wanting in the success story of INEC.

The problem now is that the state INEC has refused to pay the youths who worked for it. The Resident Electoral Commissioner claims that the youths were not part of the category of people specifically mentioned for employment by INEC for the exercise. He has refused to pay the citizens who agreed to rescue him from shame, because Jega would have not spared him if he failed.

The attendant result of this failure to pay the people is anger and threats by these aggrieved youths. The REC has received such through his handsets, yet he keeps the money. He has refused to order that they should be paid. Some of them, apparently, may have threatened to cause trouble during the April elections.

It would, therefore, be proper for Jega to summon the state REC and order him to pay all entitlements due those who rescued the state by working at those units inside the bushes and swaps.

Let this not jeopardize the electoral process in the state.

Muhammad Ajah is a writer, author, advocate of humanity and good governance based in Abuja. E-mail mobahawwah@yahoo.co.ukwp_posts