Reps Task INEC On Insurance For Injured, Dead NYSC Members On Poll Duty

The House of Representatives Committee on Electoral Matters has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to immediately pay insurance liabilities for National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members killed or injured while participating in the conduct of elections.

The panel gave the directive after receiving a presentation by the director general of the NYSC, Brig. Gen. Olakunle Nafiu at a meeting in Abuja yesterday.

Nafiu stated that the insurance cover for corps members who were injured during the 2023 general elections had not been paid.

Represented by the director, welfare, Omotade Ayodele Folorunsho, the NYSC director general disclosed that two corps members were shut during the 2023 general elections in Ukwani and another in Akwa Ibom State, leaving them with them permanent disability.

Nafiu said while the NYSC had taken care of the insurance of the corps members, the N1 million cover in the Memorandum of Understanding between the NYSC and INEC was yet to be paid, adding that the commission had also been responsible for medical care of the victims.

He lamented that poor arrangement had always characterised the conduct of elections, leaving corps members vulnerable, adding that they were often left at their own mercy during elections.

The NYSC boss also said corps members were often poorly remunerated while participating in elections, adding that they are paid N4,000 for three to five days training and ₦13, 500 for election day duties, and in most cases, the corps members don’t even have a place to sleep as some sleep on bare floor and don’t even have water to bathe.

After the presentation, a member of the committee, Hon. Alex Egbona, moved a motion which was unanimously adopted by the panel, asking INEC to prevail on the insurance company which insured the corps members and staff for the elections to, within four weeks, pay the premium of those affected.
In his intervention, chairman of the House Committee on Electoral Matters, Hon. Adebayo Balogun, said the panel considers the NYSC members not merely as participants in elections, but as indispensable partners in safeguarding the integrity of our electoral system.

“For decades, corps members have formed the backbone of election day operations, manning polling units across the federation as ad hoc staff of INEC. They carry the burden of ensuring that the voting process is transparent, orderly, and credible.

“However, we cannot ignore the realities they face. Elections in Nigeria are won or lost at the polling units, and because of this, our corps members often find themselves exposed to dangers they should never have to confront.

“Reports abound of intimidation, harassment, threats, and attempts at financial inducement. In some tragic instances, these young citizens have been attacked, injured, or even killed in the line of duty, not because they did anything wrong, but because desperate political interests saw them as obstacles to manipulation.

“This is unacceptable. No election is worth the life of even one young Nigerian. The security, welfare, and dignity of corps members must not be negotiable. We must collectively interrogate the conditions under which corps members participate in elections.

“We must re-examine their security, their compensation, their training, their insurance coverage, their logistical support, and their overall well-being. We must ensure that every corps member deployed for election duty returns safely to their families and continue their service to the nation without fear,” he added.