About 150 ad-hoc workers of INEC have reportedly stormed the commission’s headquarters in Anambra state, locked up the Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC), Edwin Nwatarali and other staff inside their offices, over non-payments of their allowances.
It was learnt that the aggrieved workers, who served in the general elections of March 28 and April 11, 2015, said they were yet to receive their payment four months after the polls, The Sun reports.
The protesting workers caused a mild drama when they approached the entrance to the commission armed with padlocks and chains which they used in locking up the premises.
The temporary staff did not listen to appeals by security operatives to vacate the commission’s gate, chanting anti -INEC songs and describing the commission as debtors. The security operatives had to fire tear gas canisters and fire gunshots to disperse the crowd.
One of the protesters, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said: “These people in INEC are terrible. They gave them money for us and they chose to do ‘man know man’, by paying some and leaving the rest of us. Those people do not want to pay us. We learnt the money had been released to them.”
However, the REC did not come out to address the workers but a worker of the commission pleaded with the ad-hoc staff to give INEC still September to clear the backlog.
Meanwhile, new indications have emerged that President Muhammadu Bahari might confirm the appointment of INEC chairperson, Amina Zakari as the substantives chairman of the commission.
No comments:
Post a Comment