The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has eliminated 749 polling models (PUs) from inappropriate services, with 9 of them from shrines and a number of other others from non secular homes, royal palaces and personal properties.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, mentioned this on Wednesday throughout a gathering with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
He mentioned that the fee has created an extra 56,873 PUs.
According to him, from the preliminary 119,973 PUs, Nigeria now has 176, 846 full-fledged PUs following the conversion of the present voting factors (VPs) to PUs.
Yakubu famous that the historical past of making and increasing PUs in Nigeria has been lengthy and complicated, including that their adequacy and accessibility by way of quantity and site throughout the nation have been a number of the challenges that needed to be addressed within the curiosity of credible elections.
According to him, following a number of unsuccessful makes an attempt to create further PUs regardless of the plain strain from elevated variety of registered voters, the fee established Voting Point Settlements (VPSs) throughout the nation and the FCT as a realistic response to necessity.
“The VPs have been tied to the present PUs and VPSs. The variety of registered voters in a PUs and the VPSs within the FCT, have been used to find out their VPs, primarily based on the higher and decrease thresholds of 500 and 750 voters respectively.”
“These have been additionally the bounds used for the 2019 General Election. The variety of new PUs in a state is the variety of VPs aggregated from these PUs having VPs. Furthermore, it was found that one PU in Lagos State had been wrongly categorized as a VP and the error was corrected.
“With this adjustment, the precise variety of authorized PUs got here to 119,974. As a consequence, the fee arrived on the precise determine of 56,563 VPs along with 309 VPSs within the FCT, making a complete of 56,872 VPs,” Yakubu mentioned.
He added that after vast ranging consultations with stakeholders and fieldwork by its officers, the 56,872 VPs and VPSs have been transformed and added to the present 119,974 PUs.
He mentioned, “Consequently, the fee is glad to report that 25 years because the present PUs have been created in 1996, the arduous nut is lastly and efficiently cracked after a number of unsuccessful makes an attempt. Nigeria now has 176,846 full-fledged PUs.
“Similarly, after session with stakeholders, the fee has efficiently eliminated 749 PUs from inappropriate areas to applicable public services or open areas in keeping with our coverage to ensure unencumbered entry to Polling Units for all voters. Of this determine, 232 have been faraway from non-public properties, 145 royal palaces, six mosques, 21 church buildings and 9 shrines. The remaining 336 PUs have been relocated for numerous causes which embrace distance, troublesome terrain, congestion, communal battle, new settlements and normal insecurity.”
