The Director General of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), Brigadier General Nnamdi Okore-Affa has said that serving corp members may not participate in Edo state gubernatorial elections if their security is not guaranteed.

Okore-Affa who was speaking in Abuja disclosed plans to seek for a waiver from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), for the corps members over the gubernatorial poll. He added that corps members would be posted to all the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, notwithstanding the security challenges in the country.

His words: “Nigeria has 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. By our mandates, we must post corps members to all states. However, because some areas have been described as volatile, what we will do is to reduce the number of corps member sent to such states. They will be posted to areas where their security will be guaranteed.

“The truth is that each state wants corps members. We will not deliberately send corps members to violence-prone areas, but we will send to at least state capitals.”

Consequently, the DG noted the importance of security, saying corps members in Edo State may not participate in the conduct of the gubernatorial election in Edo State.

“We are working with INEC. We want INEC committed to a verifiable guarantee of security of our corps members whom INEC would want to use as ad-hoc staff. If we cannot have that, the alternative is that we may ask that INEC give us a waiver not to use us for Edo election.