The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it will deploy 22,282 ad hoc personnel for the March 18 governorship and state assembly election in Bauchi.

Resident electoral commissioner Mohammed Nura stated this in an interview on Tuesday in Bauchi.

He said INEC had trained the personnel and addressed challenges to facilitate the smooth conduct of the election.

Breaking down the figures, Mr Nura said the personnel comprised 264 returning officers and 542 supervisory polling officers. Others are 5,423 polling officers and 16,269 assistant polling officers drawn from the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC).

He added that INEC also deployed 784 polling officers and assistant polling officers for the additional Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), explaining that the measure was to man polling units created out of the congested ones effectively.

INEC, he said, took delivery of sensitive election materials, which would be distributed on Thursday to the 20 local government areas.

Mr Nura said INEC had signed a memorandum of understanding with transport unions to facilitate the smooth movement of personnel and materials in the upcoming election.

The parties to the agreement are the Nigeria Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and the National Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO).

According to Mr Nura, INEC is engaging relevant stakeholders, especially the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), to ensure the safe delivery of election material and peaceful conduct of the election.

While reiterating the electoral body’s commitment to free, fair and credible elections, Mr Nura urged voters to conduct themselves peacefully.

“We are ready to go and appeal to the people of the state to conduct themselves orderly and peacefully during the election. People should turn out en masse to exercise their franchise in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said. 

(NAN)