INEC engages 7,941 ad hoc staff for Saturday’s election

NO fewer than 7,941 ad hoc staff have been engaged by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) as it puts finishing touches to the conduct of governorship election in Ekiti State. The Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Alhaji Hussaini Halilu Pai, who announced this on Saturday at a news conference in Ado Ekiti, pointed out that the bulk of the ad hoc staff were serving corps members of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), while the rest were students of federal tertiary institutions in the state. Alhaji Pai said the commission engaged such a high number in order to be able to attend to a total of 766,132 persons that were duly registered as voters in the state. He said out of the figure, 2,195 will work as Presiding Officers while 5,605 will work as Assistant Presiding Officers. According to him, some of the ad hoc staff would be deployed in the 177 electoral wards as well as the 16 collation centres at the local government headquarters while the rest would man affairs at the state capital, Ado Ekiti. The INEC Commissioner said in order to avoid cases of delayed payment to ad hoc staff in such exercise, money meant for those engaged had already been credited into the account of the NYSC office in Ekiti State. He said each corps member would receive a sum of N11,000, made up of N7,000 as honorarium and N4,000 as basic transport fare.