 during the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State have threatened to protest the non-payment of their allowances.){kind=link}
Over 17,000 ad hoc staff who worked for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the November 16 governorship election in Ondo State have threatened to protest the non-payment of their allowances.
The ad hoc staff, who underwent training and were deployed across the state for the election, were promised allowances of less than N20,000 each for their work on Election Day.
However, weeks after the election, many of them have not received their payments.
Speaking to journalists in Akure, the aggrieved staff expressed their frustration, accusing the commission of failing to honor its promise.
One of the staff members, a Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO), voiced his disappointment, stating, “They have yet to pay our allowances. INEC is not communicating with us and is ignoring our concerns. Many of us are affected, and they haven’t kept their promise.”
He added, “We are demanding the payment of our allowances, or we will stage a massive protest at the INEC office starting this week.”
Another staff member called on Governor Lucky Aiyedatiwa and other stakeholders to intervene and ensure the payments are made.
He stated, “If we do not receive our allowances by Tuesday, we are ready to join the protest. We were used and now ignored. There’s no reason for the delay.”
In response, INEC’s spokesperson in the state, Temitope Akanmu, assured that the commission had started paying the allowances to the ad hoc staff, though he acknowledged some staff were facing banking issues.
“We have paid most of the staff, and we understand that a few are having difficulties with their banks. We are working to resolve these issues and assure them the payments will be completed soon,” Akanmu said.