INEC Confirms Elections Will Not Hold In 240 Polling Units
- Elections to hold in 176,606 polling units nationwide
BY EDMOND ODOK – Just days away from this year’s general elections which kicks off with the Presidential and National Assembly polls on Saturday, February 25, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that elections will not hold in 240 polling units across the country.
Addressing a meeting with members of the Inter Party Advisory Council (IPAC) at the INEC headquarters in Abuja on Monday, the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that the 240 polling units without registered voters spread across 28 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
He said the affected polling units are part of the over 56,000 newly created polling units that saw INEC increasing the number of polling units from a total of 119,973 to 176,846.
Against this backdrop, the presidential and National Assembly as well as states and the Houses of Assembly polls will only hold in 176,606 polling units, Prof Yakubu said, adding that the Electoral umpire will soon release a comprehensive list of these polling units by name, code number, and their locations by state, local government, and registration area.
He added the Commission has also compiled the register of the voters, stressing that its state offices have been directed to give it wide publicity, especially for those who may not have provided their telephone numbers during voter registration or those whose numbers may have changed.
Further explaining the position of things, the INEC boss said; “240 polling units without registered voters spread across 28 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
“They range from one polling unit to 12 polling units in each state and the FCT, except Taraba and Imo states with 34 and 38 polling units respectively.
“No new registrants chose the polling units and no voters indicated interest to transfer to them during the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), mainly for security reasons. This means that no elections will hold in these polling units.”
“With this development, the number of polling units where elections will hold nationwide on 25th February 2023 and 11th March 2023 is now 176,606. Hard copies of the list are included in your folders for this meeting.
“Above all, Nigerians deserve the right to know the locations of these polling units. Accordingly, the soft copy of the list has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information and guidance.”
According to him; “Closely related to the distribution of voters is the identification of polling units. From the feedback we received from our officials and accredited observers following the recent nationwide mock accreditation using the BVAS, it is clear that some voters could not easily identify their polling units. This should not happen on election day”.
However, the INEC Chairman charged voters nationwide to confirm their polling units’ locations through a dedicated portal on INEC website.
He also assured that all voters who have been assigned to new polling units will receive text messages from the commission indicating their polling units.
