More than seven hours after voting officially commenced, some eligible voters in parts of Lagos waited to cast their ballots, as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was yet to distribute some sensitive materials in the affected polling units.
The delay was said to have been caused by the non-payment of some National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members serving as ad hoc staff in the election.
They refused to take part in the exercise in protest over their inability to receive their allowances.
At the Kosofe Local Government Area of the state, Channels Television’s Political Correspondent, Seun Okinbaloye, observed that the environment was relatively peaceful with a large turnout of prospective voters but no presence of INEC officials.
However, speaking to Channels Television at the Anglican Primary School Registration Area Centre (RAC), NYSC State Coordinator, Mr. Mohammed Momoh, said contrary to their claim, most corps members participating in the polls had been paid.
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He blamed the non-payment of some corps members on an alleged error in details of their bank accounts.
NYSC State Coordinator, Mr Mohammed Momoh.“I can say that over 98 percent of them have received their credit and others by Monday, once they correct account details, they are getting paid,” he said.
When asked how much the NYSC members were being paid, the State Coordinator said each member got N4,500 for the training and N13,000 for participating in the Presidential/National Assembly elections.
Giving the breakdown of the N13,000, he said, “N3,000 for transportation to the RAC, N1000 for feeding and N9,000 for the conduct of the elections.”
On the accommodation of the electoral officials, Momoh explained that the NYSC in collaboration with INEC had taken care of that by providing beds for the corps members.
The Lagos State NYSC Coordinator also vowed to sanction any corps member found flouting the electoral law or the NYSC rules during the election.
