INEC: Elections won’t hold in 240 polling units

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says elections will not hold in 240 polling units in the 2023 general election.

INEC said the 240 polling units without registered voters spread across 28 states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.

The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made the disclosure at a meeting with leaders of political parties at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja on Monday.

Yakubu 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.”

The INEC boss stated that the commission will release a comprehensive list of these polling units by name, code number, and their locations by state, local government, and registration area.

“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.

“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,” he added.

Yakubu, however, urged voters in the country to confirm the locations of their polling units via the INEC website, adding that all voters who have been assigned to new polling units will receive text messages from the commission indicating their polling units.

The INEC chairman said the electoral umpire has also compiled the register of the voters, noting that its state offices will 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.

“Voters can locate and confirm their polling units before election day by sending a regular text or WhatsApp message to a dedicated telephone number. Details of the simple procedure will be uploaded to our social media platforms shortly,” he said.

The Star