Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will require 23,000 ad-hoc staff to be able to successfully prosecute the 2023 general election in Niger State even as the commission decried none collection of permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) by residents of the state.
The head of INEC operation in the state, Mohammed Yusuf disclosed this at stakeholders meeting of the commission in preparation for the election and called on eligible citizens to apply before the deadline.
He also said the commission had made adequate preparations for internally displaced persons (IDPs) voting if the security situation in some local governments did not subside before the general election.
Yusuf disclosed that some Registration Area Centres (RACs) affected by insecurity and flood in Rafi and Mashegu and other local governments in the state would be relocated before the 2023 general election.
Meanwhile, the state resident electoral commissioner, REC, Alhaji Ahmed Yushau Garki, who newly assumed office as the 18th REC in the state lamented that PVCs were lying uncollected at local government headquarters across the state.
He therefore called on traditional rulers, the media and other stakeholders to help sensitise the people to pick up their PVCs at the various centres in the state before the general election.
Also at the meeting, the stakeholders were educated on the workings of all digital platforms introduced to ensure a smooth election and the repercussions of engaging in vote selling and buying as well as other electoral offences punishable under the new electoral law.
