The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has begun an awareness creation programme for its newly created polling units in Lagos State.
INEC staff from the Oshodi/Isolo and other Local Government Areas of Lagos State were seen posting identification banners at the newly created polling units across the state.
Adeolu Ogunwale, an electoral officer of INEC explained to BusinessDay that the exercise is one of the outlined strategies of the commission to get eligible voters in particular and every Nigerian sensitised about the forthcoming general elections in 2023.
Ogunwale disclosed that the new polling points were created to make the voting exercise a lot easier for voters and to ensure that electorates do not have to travel distances to vote.
“The newly created polling points were created for proximity sake and to facilitate access to polling units during elections,” he said.
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The INEC boss said the commission has outlined many other sensitisation programmes to mobilise voters to come out in their numbers during the general elections.
“We are already going to worship places such as churches and mosques, and markets to meet with leaders in order to educate them to educate others under their control to take the forthcoming elections seriously, by registering for their permanent voter’s cards (PVC), and other related exercises,” Ogunwale stated.
Ogunwale reiterated the need for voters to visit the various INEC offices around their residents to obtain PVC, change deformed PVC, or even asked for transfer if they for any reason have relocated from their former residents. According to the INEC senior staff, “The exercise is ongoing and electorates should maximise the opportunity to get registered, change deformed PVC, change names, especially those who were unmarried during their former registration, ask for a transfer for those who had reasons to change location, among others.”
Recall that INEC last year established a total of 56,872 new polling units in its expansion of voter access drive across the country.
According to a statement from the commission, “This is the first time additional polling units have been created in Nigeria since 1996 when the commission established the current 119,974 polling units. Efforts to create additional polling units since then have proved controversial until now, in spite of Nigeria’s growing population and the apparent need for more polling units.”
To address this issue, Yakubu Mahmood, the incumbent INEC chairman had directed that new polling units/points be created across the country in preparedness for the 2023 general elections. These have been used in addition to the polling units to conduct elections since then.
During INEC’s expansion of voter access to polling units exercise which commenced in May 2021, the commission converted voting points and voting point settlements to polling units, and relocated polling units that were not properly situated, such as those in private residences and problematic terrains, to public and accessible locations, with adequate shelter and space, to accommodate election day officials and voters, as well as provide for the secrecy of ballots.
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