1st March, 2019
A Human Rights Lawyer, Dr Kayode Ajulo has threatened to sue the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) over the use of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members to conduct elections.
Ajulo on Friday in Abuja said that the use of corps members by INEC was against the law.
Ajulo said that he was against corps members being used to conduct elections, adding that the law setting up the scheme frowned against it and must be stopped forthwith.
He said that he would sue the electoral umpire if the use of corps members were not jettisoned.
The human rights lawyer said this against the backdrop of reported killings of corps members in some part of the country during the Feb. 23, Presidential and National Assembly elections.
He decried the numbers of corps members who died during the exercise, adding that if those corps members were from those localities, they would not have been killed.
“If there is any area you want me to advise INEC is to stop using the NYSC members, particularly the youth corps member that do not even know the terrain.
“You can see the number of youth corps member that died and I believe if those corps members were from those localities they would not been slaughtered.’’
Ajulo said that INEC should find a way of getting ad hoc staff without engaging corps members, stressing that there were a lot of youths roaming the areas that could be trained and engaged.
“If actually, INEC needs youths to help as ad hoc staff, nothing stops INEC from recruiting at the outset people within the locality.’’
According to him, the NYSC law did not support that corps members be used to conduct elections, the law banned them from taking any jobs that have remuneration.
“Once you are in national service, you are not supposed to take any remuneration apart from allowance, so by doing that, INEC is violating the law.’’
Ajulo called on INEC to review that part of using corps members to conduct elections.