The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has created additional 1,607 polling units in Oyo State, the outgoing Resident Electoral Commissioner in Oyo State, Mutiu Agboke has disclosed.
This is as the Commission said that gone were the days when hoodlums and thugs disrupted elections and went away scot free.
Agboke, who disclosed this while addressing journalists during a valedictory programme held in his honour/media briefing in Ibadan, explained that the polling units were created in order to allow more eligible voters vote during the forthcoming 2023 general election.
While saying that INEC started preparation for the 2023 general elections immediately after the 2019 elections added that the commission in a bid to allow more people register and vote during the elections, has created a total of 1,607 polling units across the state adding to the existing 4,783 polling units.
Agboke, who said that Oyo State now has a total of 6,390 polling units, appealed to the media to continue in their efforts to sensitise the public on the need to do things in accordance with the electoral guidelines.
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Agboke said, “Hoodlums and thugs have no business at the polling units, because, if they disrupt the election in a polling unit, that election will be cancelled by the INEC.
“And now, the election result in a polling unit will be unloaded on the INEC website. So, if we conduct an election in a place and the hoodlums hijacked it, that will not affect the sanctity of the election because the result has been uploaded on the INEC website.
“Even before we get to the collation centre, the election result is already on the website.
“So, hoodlums or thugs who want to disrupt the election would be wasting their time.”
He added that the Commission was committed to conducting free, fair and transparent elections in 2023.
