INEC trains 134,000 corps members for general election - NYSC DG

Director-General of the National Youth Service Corps, Brigadier-General Johnson‎ Olawumi, Thursday disclosed that a total of 134,000 corps members has been selected and trained by the Independent National Electoral Commission for the March 28 and April 11 general elections.

Brigadier-General Olawumi who assured parents and guardians of their children and wards safety said the scheme would not compromise its efforts to ensuring safety of its corps members before, during and after the 2015 general elections.

Olawumi stated this in Benin at the opening ceremony of the NYSC management conference.The NYSC DG warned that the scheme would not tolerate any form of misconduct or bias on the part of the corps members during the polls.

He noted that the theme for the conference – Fulfilling the Mandate of the Scheme in the Face of Current Challenges, was apt as issues, such as insecurity, rejection of corps members in places of primary assignment, funding and inadequate infrastructure, posed critical challenges to the scheme.

He said, “The scheme is fully prepared for the national assignment, as all participating corps members‎ have been adequately trained to competently play their roles. We have equally put in place necessary security measures for their safety.

“It is hoped that this conference will brainstorm on some of these challenges and come up with strategies that will enhance our performance in the next one year.”

Governor Adams Oshiomhole who declared the conference open said March’s general election would be the toughest in the country since the last 16 years.

Oshiomhole urged the corp members not to be compromised by desperate politicians who do not want the votes to count.

He said, “This is the toughest election Nigeria will have in the last 16 years. We have a political class who if they have the opportunity they would bribe God. The corpers will require God help to resist these desperate politicians who don’t want the votes to count.

“The corpers must find sufficient encouragement in the fact that the issue at stake is not the future of those seeking power but actually the future of those who are not seeking power particularly the younger ones. Everyday that is mismanaged is opportunity lost. The corpers must understand that what is at stake is not meager money. It is much more than that.”

INEC trains 134,000 corps members for general election - NYSC DG