- Says total number of polling units in Nigeria now 176,846
Published By News Editor
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has solicited from Nigerians and other development partners suggestions that would help strengthen the management of electoral process, enhance electoral transparency and embolden the development of stronger democratic institution.
INEC Chairman Prof Mahmood Yakubu canvassed this on Wednesday at a meeting with delegation of European Union Election Observation Follow-up Mission who met with him in his office in Abuja.
According to him, “we will continue to be improve on elections in Nigeria and transparent in the management of the process. We will always welcome suggestions for improvement by Nigerians as well as friends of Nigeria. We appreciate the support of the EU to the electoral process and democratic governance in Nigeria.”
He listed the biggest progress made by the Commission since 2019 as the deepening of the deployment of technology in elections, adding that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) is bringing back believability to the electoral process.
He said the signing of the Electoral Act 2022 by President Muhammadu Buhari has laid to rest the dust of how the 2023 election would be conducted, adding that the new law made provision for 14 activities leading to the actual conduct of the election out of which the commission has implemented two between when the bill was assented last Friday till date.
He listed the two activities to include the publication of the Notice of Election and the availability of nomination forms on a dedicated portal for downloading by political parties wishing to present candidates for the various elections slated for 2023.
Yakubu said: “Clearly, the biggest progress made by the Commission since 2019 is in the area of deepening the deployment of technology in elections. INEC is the first electoral commission in West Africa, if not Africa as a whole, to upload Polling Unit level results to a portal in real-time on Election Day. In addition, there are other portals for ease of nomination of candidates and submission of list of Polling Agents by political parties and the accreditation of media, domestic and international observers.”
He said the Commission has made huge progress in the area of voter accreditation through the deployment of the BVAS, adding that the Commission has carried out a number of pilot polling with the technology to fine tune it adding that inspite of the challenges encountered in some locations, the Commission remains convinced of its efficacy.
He said INEC will continue to carry out more pilot test of the BVAS and deploy the same device in the forthcoming Ekiti and Osun Governorship elections and ultimately the 2023 General Election.
The INEC Chairman observed that the EU Monitoring body in its reports after the 2019 election made 30 recommendations which the Commission is implementing administratively, while working with the National Assembly on areas that requires legislative action which came to a hilt with the amended Electoral Bill which has been signed into law, as well as the wide ranging amendments of the 1999 constitution being considered by the National Assembly.
He said the Commission would continue to implement good suggestions aimed at strengthening the nation’s democracy, adding that as the nation moved into the 2023 election, the Commission would create new gender and inclusivity department as well as litigation and prosecution department.
He said INEC has expanded voter access to polling units for the forst time in 25 years by converting the erstwhile 56,872 Voting Points and Voting Point into polling Units and relocation some of them from congested locations to unserved and underserved locations, bringing the total of polling units to 176,846.
“We must admit that in many States we are struggling to achieve a more balanced distribution of voters to polling units. However, this is a priority project for the Commission which will be accomplished before the 2023 General Election,” Prof Yahaya said.