By PAMELA EBOH, Awka

No fewer than 150 ad-hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) who were engaged during the just concluded 2023 general elections, on Tuesday, stormed the INEC headquarters in Awka to protest non-payment of the election duty.

The placard-bearing ad-hoc staff also chanted derogatory songs against the electorl umpire.

Inscriptions on some of the placards read: “INEC, you cannot eat out money”, “Labourers are worth their wages”, and “Pay us our money”, etc.

The protesters barricaded entrance to the gate to the commission, refusing most vehicles entry and exit, even as they demanded the immediate release of their allowances.

One of the protesters who spoke to journalists on condition of anonymity, said: “We were only paid N3,000 as feeding allowance on the day of the election while the remnant of N14,000 is being owed us for each of the two elections – Presidential and National Assembly, and State House of Assembly elections.

“They are about to conclude the issue of payment, yet we have not been paid. They told us that the problem was with Access Bank and Zenith Bank and we were told to submit other bank accounts, which we did, yet they are yet to pay us.

“We’re over 300 that have not received our allowances. All we are asking is that INEC pays us the money they agreed to pay us. It is only in Nigeria that people work and do not get paid.

“This is quite unfair and we want to call on the appropriate authorities to look into this matter and ensure that we get our monies,” the protester pleaded.

“We all know the risk associated with conducting elections in this part of the country. Yet, we defied the odds and risked our lives to ensure that democracy is sustained and the only way INEC wants to pay us back is by owing us,” he added.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in-charge of INEC in Anambra, Dr Queen Elizabeth Agwu, could not be reached for her reaction as of the time of filing this report.