How do I begin?

I applied halfheartedly to work as an ad-hoc staff for INEC through my school. I didn't even put down a position, I just put down my name and that was it. Few days later I got a message asking me to resume training as a Supervisory Presiding Officer (SPO). At the time I wasn't quite aware of the nature of the job role, not until I resumed training and saw the caliber of people did I realize what I was in for. First of all, they were mostly people in the civil service and who were advanced in age. Here I was in my late twenties, a fresh graduate being in company of experienced civil servants. Anyway I didn't let that get to me. The three days I spent on training I was diligent enough to learn the ropes of what the electoral process looked like, do's and don'ts etc etc It wasn't quite easy coming from a neighboring state for the training but I managed it. After the 3 days we took a test, and were informed that if selected we would train others. Others being the presiding officers PO (mostly corp members) and assistant presiding officers APO1, APO2, and APO3.

I got another text message asking me to report to my LGA (which I won't mention so I won't be identified) where I was posted to for the training. From then I noticed a few things. One of the things I noticed was the lack of organization. The listing of names of those we were supposed to train was done haphazardly instead of in alphabetical order, so one had to go to all the classes to check before knowing where he/she would be seated for training. This scenario actually occured during my first training as an SPO. Why this was the case I don't know.
I was supposed to take a class of corp members. In the 3 days I took them I got the general feeling that some of them weren't interested in it, as though they were being compelled to take part. It didn't help that during the training there was no snacks or at least some form of welfare for us, be it the trainers or the trainees. As a result I had to deal with an unruly set of youths who kept interjecting or asking me questions about how much they would be paid, something I had no control over. In any case I took my time to explain their duties and practicalised some of the things taught such as the use of the smart card reader and how to properly sum up votes. Even though conditions weren't great, we somehow managed to pull through.

Now to election proper.

Typically, electoral personnel are supposed to be at the RAC(Registration Area Centre) on the Friday before election. As the SPO I'm supposed to collect materials, sensitive and non-sensitive from the INEC office in the LGA for onward delivery to the RAC. From there we distribute the materials to the POS and APOS in the presence of party agents and with security agents on ground. We were told from experience that we would have food available for us at the RAC but alas, there was no such thing. With regards to welfare of personnel I think INEC did poorly, at least in my LGA. There was no power as well and although we were assigned generators, they generally didn't last long or were having issues. This brings me to another critical observation. When INEC compiles the final list of personnel who would be aiding us in the election process, I observed that a lot of people who attended the training weren't called. Many of those I taught didn't work under me, I instead got new faces many of whom told me they didn't come for training!! In some cases they were fixed by people at the office whom they knew. It was a crying shame. So what happened was we had lots of people at the RAC on Friday night begging me to include them in my personnel list as they were sure that some of the people initially selected wouldn't come and it turned out to be true. A lot of personnel didn't show up and so these people who came for training but were omitted were selected at the discretion of the SPOS and I must say that they were the ones who worked hardest as they wanted to prove that they understand the job as well as get confirmed as APOS or POS. They assisted in moving cubicles, ballot boxes, very heavy cartons of sensitive material etc. Unfortunately they didn't get training allowance even though they came for the training because their names were omitted from the personnel list that INEC posted.

I won't dwell on the postponed elections but let it suffice to say that we weren't paid any inconvenience allowance. The sleepless night and all that work plus the reverse logistics involved was all for nothing. You may call it a sacrifice but sacrifices only make sense if it's collective, how can those working on the field be making sacrifices while the "ogas" are getting paid? Not fair is it?
The rescheduled presidential election was hectic. Despite promises from INEC that it would be smooth and all we all saw how it went. The planning and execution was scattered, smart card readers became a nightmare such that personnel were doing manual verification and voting which was wrong, but who could blame them?
To make matters worse news began to filter in that some personnel in other LGAs and states were paid more handsomely than those in my LGA and this led to outrage. Why will two people doing the same work get paid differently? That definitely didn't help morale so when the gubernatorial elections came the personnel felt they had had enough. On election morning they all refused to move to the field unless they were paid ₦10,000. INEC said they will only pay 5k. Come and see wahala. They said no 10k, no work. We were supposed to be up and ready to move at 6am on Saturday. By 7am no one budged. 8am no one budged. I called my immediate head, he told me I should be able to control them. I politely told him to come down and address them as this was beyond me. He initially didn't want to. When it was 9am and the personnel refused to enter the buses with their materials then the ogas at the office got the message that they were serious. They came down and tried to pacify them but that didn't work. Then my oga said something that the money they are agitating for isn't a right but a privilege and that it didn't come from INEC. At this point the reality hit me. You see, no one and I mean this, no one knows exactly how much is being paid for working as an ad-hoc staff. Forget whatever you see online, they don't take into cognisance other monies that INEC receives from either political parties, influential party men etc etc. The lack of transparency creates a breeding ground for corruption which you can't exactly complain about because they will tell you "it's not from INEC, it's a privilege and not a right". I heard rumors of electoral officers being relocated due to embezzling funds in some LGAS. Naturally INEC wouldn't want to report this because it would give credence to the fact that they are compromised. Unfortunately this is now the norm. In any case after several pleadings and promises that they will get some top ups on their pay, they agreed to move. With respect to electoral violence in my LGA there was very minimal and it was largely successful. I have decided against using names as well as intentionally left out the state. Those on this forum who have experience with this kind of thing can verify if I'm saying the truth or not. In summary I think that INEC should improve on welfare, be more transparent in their dealings, be more meticulous and also probably improve on our current voting system. I don't see why we can't have voting machines as with what obtains in the US. This our method creates a whole lot of logistic nightmares and is archaic. I think I speak for a majority of Nigerians when I say that the elections this year was below par. Can we do better come 2023? I don't know. I do know though that it's quite probably my last time doing this work. The stress involved plus the compensation isn't worth it.