THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Saturday, November 11, debunked the news that its trained ad-hoc staff were replaced in the Bayelsa off-cycle gubernatorial election.

An account on X, @PIDOMNigeria Nigeria, in a post  stated that INEC was working hard to ensure that the Bayelsa state election was rigged.

“INEC is doing everything within its powers to rig Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa for the highest bidders.

“All the trained corpers were asked to go back to where they came from. This includes APO 1, 1,2, and 3. INEC didn’t carry any of the trained APOs. They only left with voting materials,“ PIDOM Nigeria stated.

However, INEC debunked the claim in a statement by its head of voters’ registration in the state, Wilfred Ifogah.

“I wish to state here that it is not true that names of trained personnel who applied were substituted with individuals from an unknown source as claimed in the statement,” the statement read in parts.

Ifogah explained that the commission was thorough in recruiting, training, and shortlisting ad-hoc staff for the election.

Ifogah cautioned residents to be wary of rumours that are certain to be spread by those whose interest is to undermine the commission.