Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Akwa Ibom State, Bar. Austin Okojie has said that 15, 452 ad hoc staff would be used in the conduct of the March 28 and April 11 polls in the state.
Briefing Journalists in his office on the level of preparation for the conduct of the Presidential and National Assembly polls today, the REC said the Commission had distributed sensitive materials meant for polls to the 31 Local Government Areas in the state.
According to him, the sensitive materials were received from the Central Bank of Nigeria on Wednesday in the presence of security operatives, political party agents and observers; adding that the non-sensitive materials had already been distributed to all Local Government Areas in the state.
The state REC made known that out of the 1, 692, 662 Permanent Voter Cards PVCs sent to the state, the commission had distributed 1, 599, 769 PVCs being 95 per cent rate of distribution.
“We have taken delivery of 4,188 Card Readers meant for accreditation of voters on Saturday polls, 3650 will be distributed to all the polling units in the state while the remaining 538 is back up in case of breakdown”, he said.
He explained that each card reader was configured to suit a specific polling unit and was not transferable; pointing out that the card reading machines were new ones and would do the accreditation effectively within the stipulated period of 8 am and 1 pm.
Okojie assured that INEC was ready to conduct free, fair and transparent elections in accordance with the electoral act and urged journalists to avoid sensational reportage throughout the election coverage.
The media, he said, played immeasurable roles in the administration/management of elections, and charged journalists to verify facts and figures of stories before reporting.
