THE Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked reports that it has dropped ad-hoc staff from the South-East and South-South from election duties for the March 18 governorship and House of Assembly elections in Lagos State.
Reports that the Commission dropped ad-hoc staff from the two zones have been circulating on various social media platforms, including Twitter, leading to concerns about the integrity of the electoral process.
#JUSTIN: The @inecnigeria office in Lagos has removed all Igbo and South-South staff in the State from sensitive election duties for the March 18th election.
They did not give any reason, but it was said that the INEC leadership which takes directives from the Tinubu political… https://t.co/JJ6kz2wJZK
— Omotayo Williams (@KadunaResident) March 15, 2023
But in a statement on Wednesday, March 15, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner for Lagos State, Olusegun Agbaje, described the allegations as fake news and urged the public to ignore them.
The statement, signed by the Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Adenike Tadese, explained that the ad-hoc staff engaged during the Presidential and National Assembly Elections on February 25 in Lagos State were 738 in number.
However, the forthcoming governorship and House of Assembly elections would only require the services of 427 collation officers, as only two elections were involved.
Agbaje noted that members of staff who were of Igbo origin were all returned to work as collation officers in the forthcoming elections, while Supervisory Presiding Officers (SPOs) maintained their positions.
He also denied engaging in any phone conversation with any politician and called on anyone with information concerning the alleged phone conversation to make it public.
The INEC commissioner stressed the importance of accurate and reliable information in the electoral process and called on the public to disregard fake news and rumours that could cause confusion and undermine confidence in the electoral process.
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