NYSC D-G lauds INEC, security agencies readiness in Kano

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has lauded the level of preparedness by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the security agencies for Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections in Kano State.

Brig.-Gen. Suleiman Kazaure, the NYSC Director-General (D-G), made the commendation on Friday while inspecting some of the Registration Area Centres (RACs) provided by INEC as accommodation for the corps members who will serve as ad-hoc staff.Represented by Alhaji Habibu Isah-Kurawa, the scheme’s Director for General Services, Kazaure said the state of preparedness is an indication that the electoral body was set to ensure the welfare, security and safety of the corps members deployed to local government areas of the state.

He added that the NYSC is also doing everything possible to provide good atmosphere for the corps members by addressing the challenges earlier reported to have faced by the corps members before the postponement of the election.

The director-general further said the provision of adequate security for the ad-hoc staff and also INEC and NYSC officials to ensure peaceful conduct of the elections was commendable.He, therefore, charged the corps members to behave and conduct themselves well throughout the exercise in line with the ethics of the scheme and INEC’s guidelines to ensure free, fair and acceptable elections.

The NYSC Coordinator in Kano, Alhaji Ladan Baba, assured all corps members that expressed their interest to participate in the conduct of the elections and applied through the internet that none of them would be removed.According to him, 8,708 out of the over 11,000 corps members in the state expressed interest to participate and were given training by INEC in collaboration with the NYSC.

He called on the corps members who were posted to other local government areas different from that of their NYSC primary assignment to exercise patience, saying it has been resolved.“I wish to express our worry over the harsh and unpleasant experiences faced in the deployment and logistics for participation of corps members as INEC ad-hoc staff,” he however said.

“We noted with dismay the omissions and dislodgement far away from places of primary assignment, inadequate arrangement for transportation and accommodation in some RACs.“Therefore, I implore you to regard the situation as temporary in the threshold of inscribing your names in gold in the history of elections in the country,” he said.He also implored INEC to make adequate logistic arrangement for the corps members’ welfare, transportation, accommodation and security, especially at the RACs.