The
Independent National Electoral Commission has raised alarm that the
ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities would affect
its preparations for the 2019 elections. On November 5, 2018, ASUU
began an indefinite strike action over the failure of the Federal
Government to implement three areas in the Memorandum of Action it
signed with the union on September 14, 2017. On Thursday, a National
Commissioner for INEC and Chairman of its Information and other
Education Committee, Festus Okoye, expressed concerns about the effect
of the ASUU strike on the 2019 elections during the opening of a
one-day seminar on media gender sensitive reporting. The commission said
that it would deploy over one million ad hoc staff made up of lecturers
in federal tertiary institutions, members of the National Youth Service
Corps and students of federal tertiary institutions in the elections.
The categories of ad hoc staff to be used during next year’s elections
would serve as Returning Officers, Collation Officers, Supervisory
Presiding Officers, and Assistant Presiding Officers. But Okoye
expressed fear that the elections could be impacted negatively if the
strike was not urgently called off. He said, “It is next to
impossibility for members of the NYSC to provide all the ad hoc staff
needs and requirements of the commission, and over 70 per cent of the ad
hoc staff requirement in some states of the federation are drawn from
students of federal tertiary institutions. Hence, the lingering strike
by ASUU will no doubt have serious impact on the preparations for the
conduct of the 2019 elections. We therefore call on ASUU and the Federal
Government of Nigeria to quickly and genuinely resolve the lingering
impasse that has led to uncertainty in the education sector.The national
interest, the interest of our democracy and the reputation of Nigeria
demand the immediate resolution of the issues that led to the strike and
we so urge.It is important that students in federal tertiary
institutions should and must be in school at least a month before the
February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections. They are a
critical resource and their absence will have adverse effects on the ad
hoc requirements of INEC.How ASUU strike will affect preparations for 2019 polls - INEC explains
The
Independent National Electoral Commission has raised alarm that the
ongoing strike by the Academic Staff Union of Universities would affect
its preparations for the 2019 elections. On November 5, 2018, ASUU
began an indefinite strike action over the failure of the Federal
Government to implement three areas in the Memorandum of Action it
signed with the union on September 14, 2017. On Thursday, a National
Commissioner for INEC and Chairman of its Information and other
Education Committee, Festus Okoye, expressed concerns about the effect
of the ASUU strike on the 2019 elections during the opening of a
one-day seminar on media gender sensitive reporting. The commission said
that it would deploy over one million ad hoc staff made up of lecturers
in federal tertiary institutions, members of the National Youth Service
Corps and students of federal tertiary institutions in the elections.
The categories of ad hoc staff to be used during next year’s elections
would serve as Returning Officers, Collation Officers, Supervisory
Presiding Officers, and Assistant Presiding Officers. But Okoye
expressed fear that the elections could be impacted negatively if the
strike was not urgently called off. He said, “It is next to
impossibility for members of the NYSC to provide all the ad hoc staff
needs and requirements of the commission, and over 70 per cent of the ad
hoc staff requirement in some states of the federation are drawn from
students of federal tertiary institutions. Hence, the lingering strike
by ASUU will no doubt have serious impact on the preparations for the
conduct of the 2019 elections. We therefore call on ASUU and the Federal
Government of Nigeria to quickly and genuinely resolve the lingering
impasse that has led to uncertainty in the education sector.The national
interest, the interest of our democracy and the reputation of Nigeria
demand the immediate resolution of the issues that led to the strike and
we so urge.It is important that students in federal tertiary
institutions should and must be in school at least a month before the
February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections. They are a
critical resource and their absence will have adverse effects on the ad
hoc requirements of INEC.
