By Tony Edike

ENUGU — THE Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said yesterday that it had commenced recruitment of over 360,000 ad-hoc staff required for the voters’ registration exercise.

The commission also expressed fears that the incessant cases of kidnapping in the South-East zone of the country might work against the success of the commission in the voters’ registration exercise.

Chairman of INEC, Professor Attahiru Jega, disclosed these in Enugu during an interactive consultation between INEC and leadership of political parties in Enugu, Anambra and Imo States.

The consultation was packaged by the International Republican Institute, IRI.

He said the commission had fully developed new registration software that was completely owned by INEC.

The significance of the new software, according to Jega, who was represented by INEC Commissioner for Enugu, Anambra and Imo States, Mrs. G. N. Nwafor, is that it would tackle many of the lingering challenges that had questioned the credibility of voters’ register, adding that the new software was currently being rigorously tested.

He said the determination of the commission to undertake fundamental internal reforms and overhaul its operations at all levels led to the interactive workshop organized for the commission’s logistics and operational plans for the voters registration and elections.