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Tag: polling units

  • Ekiti poll: Stay away from polling units if you don’t have PVC – INEC tells residents

    Ekiti poll: Stay away from polling units if you don’t have PVC – INEC tells residents

    The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Ekiti State, Prof. Abdulganiy Raji, has warned those who have no Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to stay away from polling units during the conduct of the state governorship election on Saturday.

    According to him, Independent National Electoral Commission gave enough time for registered voters to collect their PVCs and lodge complaints before the process ended on Wednesday.

    He said although Rapid Response Squad would be positioned at strategic locations during the election, no armed policeman would be at any of the polling units so that the electorate would not feel intimidated.

    He said, “INEC in Ekiti is fully prepared for the election. We have 913,334 voters registered, out of which 667,270 have collected their permanent voter cards.

    “This means that 667,270 will vote in Saturday’s election.”

  • 2019: INEC replies PDP on alleged plans to create 30,000 new polling units

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has denied alleged plans to re-introduce 30,000 new polling units so as to compromise the 2019 General Elections.

    Recall that the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP) National Publicity Secretary, Kola Ologbondiyan, on Friday in statement, alleged that INEC was planning to create 30,000 illegal polling units in some remote areas of the country.

    A statement issued by Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, on Sunday in Abuja urged members of the public to disregard the statement.

    Oyekanmi said the fact of the matter was that the commission had received 3,789 requests nationwide for the creation of new polling units.

    He said INEC had directed its Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) to thoroughly assess the requests and provide it with information on new settlements not served or inadequately served by existing polling units.

    He added that the commissioners were also to provide information on areas with natural barriers that hinder access to existing polling units as well as areas that were distant from existing polling units.

    “The RECs are also to assess and provide information on areas affected by communal and other conflicts that make voting in existing polling units unsafe for voters,” he said.

    According to him, these reports are still being awaited from the various states.

    “It is these reports and the information they contain that will be collated and carefully examined by the commission in order to determine what changes may be necessary in the current polling units` profile of the country.

    “Therefore, the insinuation that the commission intends to create 30,000 new polling units to compromise the 2019 General Elections is false, misleading, unfounded and should be disregarded,” he said.

    The commission assured the public that its decisions and actions shall always be guided by the provisions of the extant laws and its determination to respond to requests by Nigerians to serve them better.

    He added that the creation of more polling units would be done only after full consultation with all stakeholders.

  • Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    Prisoners will participate, vote in 2019 election, says INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC says it is making arrangements with the Nigeria Prisons Service to ensure that prisoners are allowed to vote in the 2019 general elections.

    The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in Abuja on Tuesday at a dialogue session with the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Dialogue – a coalition of over 70 civil society organisations in Nigeria.

    The development comes three years after a Federal High Court in Benin, Edo State, ruled that prisoners in Nigeria have the right to vote in all elections conducted in the country.

    The INEC boss said the commission was looking at the possibility of creating polling units in Nigerian prisons to allow some categories of inmates to vote.

    He, however, said certain categories of prisoners would not be allowed to vote depending on the nature of the crimes they committed.

    Yakubu said, “We have already engaged the Comptroller-General of Prisons and we have statistics on the number of prisoners nationwide and the number of inmates that are registered. We are looking at the possibility of creating polling units in the prisons and to enable some categories of prisoners to vote.

    “Ghana does it but there are some categories of prisoners who by the nature of crimes committed lose the right to vote. Whatever we can do to open up the process to ensure that as much as possible Nigerians are given the opportunity to vote, will be done.”

    Also speaking on the forthcoming Anambra governorship election, the INEC boss said the commission would do everything to ensure that the election is not inconclusive.

    Yakubu raised the alarm over the wrongful substitution of names of governorship candidates by two political parties ahead of the governorship election.

    He regretted that the high level of non-compliance to the Electoral Act by the political parties was threatening the electoral system.

    Although the INEC boss declined to name the parties involved in the wrongful substitution of candidates’ names, he warned that if the act was eventually challenged in court, the whole election could be voided on that account and the nation made to bear the financial brunt of conducting a fresh election.

    The Executive Director, Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre, and Convener of Situation Room, Clement Nwankwo, said the event was organised to find out the commission’s preparations for the forthcoming Anambra State governorship poll as well as other elections update.