Polls: INEC Still Owes Ogun Corpers Stipends

National Youth Service Corps members

Some National Youth Service Corps members in Ogun State, who worked as electoral officers during the last general elections in the state, have protested the non-payment of their stipends by the Independent National Electoral Commission, seven months after.

Some of the corps members, who spoke with our correspondent on Sunday, said they had made efforts to get their stipends from INEC, but to no avail.

Some of them, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said they suspected a foul play by INEC officials.

Confirming the debt, the NYSC Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Florence Takum, said, “The office is aware and is assisting them; it has assisted a lot of them and still assisting them.

“I don’t have the details, but the little I know is that we have compiled their names severally for the purpose of payment. We have collated the complaints and we are addressing them with INEC.”

When contacted, the INEC’s Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs Adenike Tadese, also confirmed the debt.

She said, “The problem we are having is that some of them wrote wrong account numbers. We have posted their money into their accounts, but the account numbers are not correct. And definitely, we will go to the banks for refund and then repost it.

“When we asked some of them to give us their account numbers, they gave us their phone numbers. So, those are the problems we are facing. We are on top of the situation. We are trying to sort things out.  In no distance time, they will get their money.”