Former Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Commissioner, Mike Igini, has alleged that politicians infiltrate National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) personnel lists and stitch NYSC uniforms for people who aren’t corps members to function presiding officers throughout elections.
Igini raised the priority throughout an interview on ARISE News on Tuesday, urging the NYSC to strengthen its verification processes and make sure the integrity of personnel lists submitted for electoral assignments.
He warned that political interference within the recruitment and deployment of election personnel might undermine the credibility of the electoral course of.
According to Igini, his expertise in election administration confirmed that politicians might manipulate NYSC lists, significantly on the state degree, to introduce people who weren’t real corps members into election duties.
He mentioned, “What we discovered by the use of expertise in locations I’ve labored was that the NYSC is often infiltrated. The record is infiltrated and that’s why the advice has actually been the DG of NYSC.
“You should certify the integrity of the record of NYSC as a result of what politicians do is that they infiltrate the record, both on the state degree, then we herald individuals and stitch NYSC uniforms for them.
“So what you find at the polling unit are people actually submitted through compromise to our own staff to conduct election at the level of the polling unit.”
Igini burdened that adopting know-how was important to defending electoral establishments from manipulation, warning that organisations that did not embrace technological options risked institutional decline.
He mentioned, “That was why we decided that we must bring some level of embrace of technology because any organisation that fails to embrace the benefit of technology will be overtaken by the chaos or decay and decline.”
The former INEC commissioner, nonetheless, urged Nigerians to not underestimate the function of voters in defending the integrity of elections at polling items.
He famous that solely 4 officers had been assigned to every polling unit, whereas voters usually outnumbered election personnel, giving them a chance to watch proceedings and demand on transparency.
“But the good news to the Nigerian people is that at the polling unit you have only four officials,” he mentioned.
Igini added that Nigeria’s 176,846 polling items supplied residents with alternatives to safeguard their votes by remaining vigilant and guaranteeing that electoral officers carried out their duties transparently.
“The energy of the individuals on the polling unit is superior, and that’s that in each polling unit of the 176,846 polling items of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, voters will usually outnumber them on the polling unit.
“Voters will normally outnumber poll officials at the polling unit. That’s where the power of voters lies,” he mentioned.
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