Adhoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Anambra State in the 2023 general elections have protested non-payment of their stipend by the electoral body.
The protest is coming barely two months after the polls that reportedly gulped about N305bn.
The commission had recruited about 1.4 million adhoc staff to complement its personnel to conduct the polls.
Speaking with our correspondent on Sunday, the protesters appealed to Governor Chukwuma Soludo to prevail on INEC officials in the state to pay them their money.
They threatened to report the INEC officials in the state to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) if their allowances were not paid anytime soon.
One of the protesters who prefered anonymity said, ” While few of the temporary staff who worked in Anambra State have been partially paid; many others, especially the Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) have not received a dime from INEC for their services in the two elections, including the re-run and supplementary elections that held in different parts of the state thereafter.
“We never expected that INEC would still owe us till this moment, considering all the stress, risk, and discomfort we encountered in the course of doing their job.
“The allowances for the presidential election are yet to be paid to the SPOs in the state, likewise the allowance for the State Assembly poll.
“The worst of it all is that we don’t even know how much we’re expecting from INEC as payment for our jobs as we were not told the exact amount to be paid by the commission.
“Meanwhile, top INEC officials in the state have refused to give us audience, let alone showing concern to our plight.
Efforts to get reactions of state INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Elizabeth Agwu, and Public Relations Officer, Dr Kingsley Agwu, proved abortive as none of them picked their calls nor replied text messages sent to their phones on the matter as of time of filing this report.
