Views: Visits 6 By Abdulmumin Murtala – Kano The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced plans to convert voting points into full fledge Polling Units across the country. This was stated by Barr Festus Okoye, National Commissioner during a stakeholders meeting on expanding voter access to polling units, in Kano on Saturday. “In 1996, across Nigeria, there were 119,973 polling units when there was 50 million registered voters. Now that there are 87 million registered voters in the country, there is need to exp and and establish new polling units across the country. “The Commission has in the last three electoral cycles made use of Voting Points and Voting Points Settlements as interim solutions for declaring voter access to Polling Units. These are well known by the stakeholders and accepted by voters. Consequently converting them to full fledged Polling Units is a cost effective and timely way of addressing the problem.
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INEC to convert voting points to full fledge Polling Units
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By Abdulmumin Murtala – Kano
The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced plans to convert voting points into full fledge Polling Units across the country.
This was stated by Barr Festus Okoye, National Commissioner during a stakeholders meeting on expanding voter access to polling units, in Kano on Saturday.
“In 1996, across Nigeria, there were 119,973 polling units when there was 50 million registered voters. Now that there are 87 million registered voters in the country, there is need to exp and and establish new polling units across the country.
“The Commission has in the last three electoral cycles made use of Voting Points and Voting Points Settlements as interim solutions for declaring voter access to Polling Units. These are well known by the stakeholders and accepted by voters. Consequently converting them to full fledged Polling Units is a cost effective and timely
Nseobong Okon-Ekong and Chuks Okocha write that the resolve by the Independent National Electoral Commission to create and expand existing Polling Units across the country ahead of the 2023 national elections has been received with suspicion in some quarters, while the commission advances compelling reasons for the exercise
The ongoing effort by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to get the understanding of all stakeholders in order to have a smooth increase in the number of Polling Units in the country is undoubtedly one of the greatest challenges facing Professor Mahmood Yakubu as Chairman of the electoral body. This may yet become a significant milestone when he succeeds in what he has set out to accomplish. As he has already set a record by getting an unprecedented second tenure, the INEC Chairman has a good opportunity to carry out many of the reforms that have been suggested across board to give the nation a better chance to get electoral processes that are d
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Issues relating to polling units in democracy remain critical because of the role of the electorate. In this report, KUNLE ODEREMI and TAIWO AMODU write on the plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create more polling units across the country vis-a-vis the credibility of elections.
Polling unit constitutes a fundamental building block for credible election. It serves as the real platform for eligible citizens to exercise their franchise since a polling unit or station is a place, where eligible persons can register to vote in an election.
There are about 120 000 polling units disproportionately spread across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Abuja. Some of the units have multiple voting points due to density of the population of registered voters, especially in urban areas.
National President of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Chris Isiguzo has advised the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to be fair to