INEC educates youths ahead of Edo poll

The Independent National Electoral Commission, the Nigeria Orientation Agency and the National Youth Service Corps have urged youths not to allow themselves to be used for electoral malpractices in the September 21 governorship election in Edo State.

At a one-day workshop organised by INEC for youth groups in Benin on Tuesday, the  Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Anugbum Onuoha, represented by the Administrative Secretary for Edo office, Emmanuel Ogbodu, urged the youth to come out en masse for the governorship election.

He charged the youth to approach the governorship election with the same enthusiasm they participated in the hunger protest.

Onuoha said the one-day engagement was to encourage the youths to participate in the electoral process.

He said, “INEC ‘s major goal of its partnership with the young people is to strategically position them to better appreciate their stake as an important demographic player in the public space, capable of making meaningful contributions to the democratic advancement of the nation.”

The Edo State Director of NOA,  Osahon Woghiren, advised the youth against allowing themselves to be used as political thugs by desperate politicians.

“Some youths have been used as political thugs, being used to destroy electoral materials, vote-buying, among others,” he said.

Woghiren urged the youth to shun all criminal tendencies and collaborate with INEC to ensure a free and fair poll.

The Edo State Director of the NYSC, Ifeoma Ben-Ushie Ifeoma, appealed to youths to avoid being used as agents of electoral malpractice.

Ben-Ushie, represented by the NYSC Zonal Inspector for the Oredo Local Government Area, Mrs Okundia Iyobosa, said the youth must realise that their votes were their power to shape the future for the better.