No staff plan to boycott elections

The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps has assured that its personnel will be fully on site for the 2023 elections.

This is stated in a statement signed on Thursday by Corps spokesman Olusola Odumosu.

The Corps assured against the backdrop that the Corps agents intend to boycott the 2023 election coverage due to outstanding allowances for the 2022 election coverage of Osun and Ekiti states.

The Corps acknowledged that personnel participating in the 2022 governorship elections of Ekiti and Osun states had not yet received their allowances.

According to the statement, NSCDC management is taking the necessary steps to ensure that staff receive their allowances before the 2023 election.

The statement read: “The Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps is more committed than ever to ensuring that citizens and the country as a whole are adequately secured to enable citizens to experience free, fair and transparent elections.

“There were reports that Corps agents are planning to boycott the 2023 election coverage due to outstanding grants for the 2022 election coverage of Osun and Ekiti.

“The Corps wants to debunk such speculations as thousands of NSCDC personnel will be deployed to every nook and cranny, critical national infrastructures that will not exclude the protection of the Independent National Electoral Commission, its staff and electoral materials, all in an effort to ensure peaceful elections . .

“While the Corps personnel who participated in the 2022 Ekiti and Osun gubernatorial elections have yet to receive their stipends, NSCDC management has taken bold steps to ensure that the stipends are paid before the presidential election.

“The Federal Government has recently released Osun Election Allowances which are paid to officers who participated in the election duty and has also been promised that the Ekiti Election Allowances will be released to the Corps.

“The recently released fund was due to the dedication and passion of the Commander General, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi, to ensure that the welfare of the personnel is not tampered with.

“Dr. Audi, concerned about the initial delay, set up an Action Committee, headed by its Director of Finance and Accounting, Comfort Danladi, to make the necessary follow-ups with the Federal Ministry of Finance to ensure the release of the funds .

“The co-operation of the Treasury Department with regard to the payment of the election allowances prompted Corps management to assure staff that the process had begun, hence the need to ask for more patience at that time.”

However, the Corps urged the affected personnel to exercise more patience as the payment process cannot be completed in one day.