Ad-hoc staff refuse to work in parts of Lagos saying Inec is yet to pay them for presidential elections

INDEPENDENT National Electoral Commission (Inec) ad-hoc staff in Lagos State delayed the commencement of voting today until about 1pm as the protested the non-payment of their feeding allowances insisting they must be paid before they started work.

 

Every election cycle, Inec recruits thousands of ad-hoc staff, including members of the national Youth Service Corp (NYSC) to help it conduct polls. This morning, staff at the collation centre in Iba Local Council Development Area in the Ojo area of the state and at Ikosi-Ketu in Kosofe Local Government Area, protested the fact that they are owed arrears from elections a fortnight ago.

 

According to the staff, they have not been paid feeding allowances for the presidential and National Assembly election which took place fortnight ago. They insisted on being paid their entitlements in full before commencing work as they feared they would struggle to their money after the elections.

 

One member of staff said: “We have resolved that both the last election and today`s allowances be paid before we go to our polling units. Our colleagues in other areas have been paid and we are to collect N10,000.”

 

Inec offered to pay the staff N5, 000 and then clear the remaining after the elections but the workers did not agree to such arrangement. In Iba, one local top politician waded into the matter and gave Inec the money to pay the staff.

 

One member of staff said: “I was told the politician gave Inec money to offset the remaining N5,000. As soon as we collect our money, we will move with the materials as you can see they are already in the bus.

 

“They said we should go to our polling units that our supervisory presiding officer (SPO) will go round to disburse the money but some of us don`t know the SPO that received our money. Our SPO said the money was paid to a wrong person, so would rather wait here to collect our money."

 

As a result of the impasse, several voters returned to their homes after waiting for over three hours at the polling units. Many wondered how Inec would deny the ad-hoc workers their rights after completing the first exercise.

 

One voter said: “Whoever is responsible for the non-payment of their money should be arrested immediately, as this is sabotage. ’How can you deny the whole Local Council Development Area their right to commence voting like other areas because of your stupid selfish interest?

 

"That person is a criminal and must be treated as such. If other areas ad hoc workers have been paid, so why are the workers here yet to receive theirs?”

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