INEC To Create New Polling Units Ahead Of Anambra, Ekiti, Osun Elections

A file photo of former INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is proposing to create new additional polling units across the country ahead of the governorship elections in Anambra this year and the Ekiti and Osun elections in 2022 as well as the 2023 general election.

INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu who made the announcement during a meeting with the National leadership of the Arewa Consultative Forum(ACF) in Kaduna state, says that the creation of more polling units has become very important due to the increasing number of prospective eligible voters in the country.

Professor Yakubu while stressing the need to depoliticize the creation of polling units by political parties, warned that disenfranchising millions of eligible voters due to the absence of enough polling units is capable of damaging the credibility of elections in the country.

According to INEC, there are 119,973 polling units in the country established a quarter of a century ago in 1996 by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON), during the period, the voter population was projected at 50 million.

After three unsuccessful attempts to create new polling Units for elections, INEC is now adopting a new approach to the disturbing issue of polling units expansion especially now that the number of voters in its register has increased to over 84 million.

This time, the commission is holding consultations with election stakeholders, unlike the previous attempts that failed because the commission handled them administratively.