NYSC will not cover Rivers' rerun election - Official

- The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that it will corps members will not work as ad-hoc staff in the Saturday, February 25, Rivers state rerun election

- The Rivers state coordinator of the NYSC said the corps members will not be available for the election exercise due to violence in the areas

- The coordinator said the corps had lost one of its members in violence in the area and would not afford to send more youth for the forthcoming election

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) has said that it will corps members will not work as ad-hoc staff in the Saturday, February 25, Rivers state rerun election.

The Rivers state coordinator of the NYSC Omotayo Adewoye said the corps members will not be available for the election exercise due to violence in the areas.

On Tuesday, February 21, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had announced that the House of Representatives and House of Assembly seats elections for Etche local government area of Rivers state will hold on Saturday.

However, following INEC's announcement, Adewoye said the corps had lost one of its members in violence in the area and would not afford to send more youth for the forthcoming election.

“I am just one month old in this state. When I received the letter calling for 300 interested youth corps members to come up for training to participate in the conduct of the elections in Etche, being quiet aware of the Memorandum of Understanding between INEC and NYSC, and knowing that I was not a signatory to the agreement, I had the course to approach my national headquarters in Abuja," Adewoye said.

“While I did that, I contacted the field officer in Etche where the election is going to hold to get members ready for the training which started on Monday to equip them fir the exercise.

However, I am standing here today, to inform you that NYSC will not take part in the exercise because of the obvious reason of violence in the last elections in the state in which we lost one of our youths.

“I have duly contacted my headquarters and I have been asked to stay action in the matter," she said.

Meanwhile Rivers state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Aniedi Ikiowak said the Etche election will hold in over 200 voting units across eight registration areas.

Ikiowak while speaking with security chiefs, politicians and candidates for the election said election for the House of Representatives will hold in 147 units while that of the House of Assembly will hold in 74 units in Etche constituency two.

He said the exercise would be held in areas where access to the polling units were blocked by suspected thugs during the December 11 rerun.

He also added that card readers would not be used during the exercise.

The election is very important to INEC, the state and indigenes of the local government for them to have credible representation in the House of Representatives and the State Assembly," Ikiowak said.

“The election is going to be held for three major reasons,- areas where INEC staff and materials were not able to access at the last exercise due to blockade mounted by political thugs, hence election was not held there.

“Again, where election materials got to but for certain obvious reasons of violence and disruption, results were not collated and results not declared at the appropriate venue and finally where elections were held but were rejected and cancelled by the Electoral Officer at the ward level because of certain malpractices,” he said.

Also sensitive materials that will be used for the rerun election are expected from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) today, February 22.