The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bauchi on Tuesday said that it had screened and cleared candidates of nine political parties to contest in the Bauchi South Senatorial by-election slated for August 11.

INEC Head of Voters Education and Publicity in the state, Yahaya Mohammed, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Bauchi.

He listed those cleared as Haruna Ayuba, ADC; Lawal Gumau, APC; Aminu Tukur, APP; Isa Yuguda, GPN; Usman Hassan, KP; Husseini Umar, NNPP; Usman Chaledi, PDC; Ladan Salihu, PDP and Maryam Bargel, SDP.

Mohammed said the list of the candidates was submitted to the commission by their various parties after their primaries.

Speaking on preparations for the election, Mohammed said that the commission had recruited 3,500 ad hoc staff that would man 1,944 polling in seven Local Government Areas of the state that constituted the senatorial. (NAN)