At least five ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), stationed in Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, have complained about poor treatment by the commission, including the non-payment of required allowances and inadequate welfare planning for their security and personal well-being during the ongoing presidential and parliamentary elections.

Speaking to Peoples Gazette at the Obio/Akpor local government collation center, a presiding officer who chose not to disclose his name said he had not received his feeding allowances from Friday up until this morning. He accused his Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO) of cornering the funds for himself and his colleagues. 

“Our own feeding money that they were supposed to give us, since on Friday nothing, Saturday nothing. Till this Sunday morning, our SPO said she is not owing us anything,” he said. 

He added that INEC authorities allowed them to transport sensitive election materials, including the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) and result sheets without any form of protection, leaving them vulnerable to thugs who stopped and harassed them. 

His statement aligned with that of another officer who simply identified herself as Grace. 

“We have been here for the past three days, no food, no water. They didn’t give us anything,” she said. “We have serious issues with payment.” 

“We did not have money for transport, we have been spending our own money,” she added. 

Another presiding officer, Henrietta, said she and her colleagues were held hostage for more than three hours by “area boys” who assaulted several of them repeatedly. 

“The bus took us to Rumeme community primary school and we were held hostage in that place for more than three hours. We tried calling our SPO, INEC officials, none of them answered us,” she said. “In fact, they molested so many of us yesterday evening,” she added.