Corps members campaigning: NYSC states position

The National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) says corps members are forbidden from showing partisan interest in politics.

Mr Eddy Megwa, Director, Press and Public Relations of the corps, said this in a statement issued on Saturday in Abuja .

His statement was a reaction to a campaign poster making the rounds on social media, showing some ladies in NYSC uniform purporting to be corps members endorsing one of the political parties in Nigeria.

Megwa said that the message  encapsulated in the poster was against the policy of the scheme which forbade corps members from showing interest in partisan politics.

“In addition, it is a direct assault on the integrity of the NYSC which is among the electoral umpires, and has been in collaboration with Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the conduct of elections in Nigeria since 2008.

`Management hereby restates that the scheme remains apolitical, and  neutral without any form of attachment to any political party.

“The stand of the scheme runs absolutely contrary to the message fraudulently conveyed by the poster,” Megwa said.

He also reminded members of the public that Section 14 of the NYSC Act made it an offence for someone who is not a corps member to wear the NYSC uniform.

According to him, if found guilty, such a person is liable on conviction to six months imprisonment and/or a fine