The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday said it would recruit 500,000 ad hoc staff to assist it in conducting the 2007 general elections.

While briefing newsmen on the commission's preparations for the elections in the capital Abuja, INEC National Commissioner for Information and Publicity Mohammed Jumare said "the ad hoc staff will be recruited nationwide to complement the 5,000 permanent staff of the commission."

He said the commission had started train-the-trainer programs for the training of the ad hoc staff that would be recruited.

"The ad hoc staff will be used in all the 120,000 designated polling units across the country," he added.

Besides, he said, INEC was deeply involved in the mobilization of people for the forthcoming voter revalidation exercise that would begin on Oct. 7.

According to the commissioner, his commission will meet with representatives of the registered 45 political parties on Monday to discuss the voter revalidation exercise.

Referring to some political parties that have no functional offices, Jumare said, the commission would soon find out the fake parties and expose them to the public.

Source: Xinhua