INEC REC in Rivers Discourages Rumour Mongering...NYSC Calls for Better Welfare of Corp Members

Gesila Khan

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Resident Electoral Commissioner in Rivers State, Gesila Khan, has advised politicians and some Rivers people to stop peddling falsehood over Saturday April 11, elections.

She said that rumour mongering which has become prominent in some political parties in the state was not in the interest of the people of the state.

She said: “I will still reemphasise that my good people of Rivers State should desist from rumour mongering. Rumour mongering does not help anybody and it does not do the society any good. When people are not properly informed it can lead to violence, it can lead to distrust and many other things. INEC office is a public office. 

 "Members of political parties are free to come into this office, make their enquiries, rather than just carrying their stories that are not correct and cause more confusion and problems for us. INEC is here to serve the public," she added.

In the meantime, the National Youth Service Corp (NYSC) in Rivers State has accused INEC of failure to make adequate preparation for corp members recruited as adhoc staff for the Saturday election in the state.

NYSC’s Director in Rivers State, Ngozi Nwatarali, made the accusation at a meeting with head of security agencies and governorship candidates.

Nwatarali said many corp members were sceptical about participating in Saturday’s election due to the poor preparation for their remuneration by INEC.

“Please they should protect our corp members. I wish to discourage what happened especially the abduction in which some corp members were abducted and some beaten, some had to run into the bush and slept in the bush. Some slept in police stations because there were no vehicles to convey them. And so for two days running they couldn’t take their bath. They couldn’t eat because they were not provided with logisitics that were necessary for them to be at least a little comfortable to do their job.