Ahead of the forthcoming by-election for Pengana Constituency in Bassa Local Government Area of Plateau, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday commenced a three-day training for 617 Presiding and Assistant Presiding Officers.

Declaring the training open in Jos, Mallam Hussaini Pai, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, said the training was crucial to the success of the by-election.

Represented by Alhaji Gbadamosi Rasheed, the commission’s Administrative Secretary in the state, Pai urged the participants to pay attention during the exercise.

He said the nation expected the commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections, hence INEC in turn expected good conduct from its ad-hoc staff.

“We expect all of you to be above board in terms of personal conduct and the assignments given to you,” he said.

Pai explained that only those with high competence in the use of the Smart Card Readers would be deployed to the field for the exercise.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the by-election has been slated for Aug. 3.