The Independent National Electoral Commission has said it will offer automatic employment to National Youth Service Corps members who are dedicated and found with integrity in the November 2019 Kogi and Bayelsa governorship elections.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, who made the promise at the NYSC Orientation camp in Abuja on Monday, said the commission was reviewing the 2019 General Election and would also offer employment to the NYSC election workers found to be diligent and with integrity.

The chairman spoke as the European Union donated election monitoring gadgets to 75 exceptional corps members drawn from the 36 states.

The EU donations included laptops and mobile phones.

Yakubu said, “The commission has embarked on the review of the 2019 General Election and there are many corps members who did very well. We will identify them and reward those who did well in the elections with automatic employment.

By doing so, we believe these corps members will form the bulk of conscientious electoral workers going into the next general elections. We will also give this offer to those corps members for the Kogi and Bayelsa states’ elections in November. We will keep our eyes open and those who do very well will also be rewarded with automatic enjoyment.

There cannot be any election in Nigeria without the NYSC. It is simply impossible. The NYSC members are the most dedicated, educated and patriotic election duty staff in our country. It is not just about the elections but the electoral process.

The Head of the EU delegation, Ketil Karlsen, noted that youths in Nigeria must be encouraged to participate freely and peacefully in the electoral process.

Karlsen said, “More than 60 per cent of the Nigerian population are youths and a vast majority of the voters are youths. So, we reached out to enhance youth participation and sensitisation during the last general elections.

We have observed every single election in Nigeria since 1999 and we want to tell everyone and particularly Nigerians not to take democracy for granted. Do we have perfect elections? Of course, not. Is there room for improvement? Yes, there is.

And for that to happen, we have to see more youth participation in the process.

The NYSC Director-General, Brig-Gen Shuaibu Ibrahim, said that with over 300,000 corps members mobilised annually, the scheme had created rooms for youths to “discover and harness their potentials for personal and national development.

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