VOTER ACCESS: PUs will be shifted on Government Facilities- INEC

Oru Leonard

The Independent National Electoral Commission in Nigeria has said that the implementation of voter access to Polling Units (PUs), will take polling to more government public facilities like courts and hospitals.

Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, stated this yesterday in Abuja during the training of the commission’s heads (Electoral Operations) on the implementation of voter access to PUs.

He disclosed that some polling units are in private residences, which will be relocated to public spaces.“We will relocate such polling units and check for underserved areas and take them there”, Okoye said.

He noted that the Commission is not doing Continuous Voters Registration at the moment because Nigerians have agreed that our polling units must be expanded.

“Our polling units, due to their configuration, are overcrowded and prone to violence. We want to move such polling units to public places like schools, courts, and maybe hospitals.”

“New registrant for their Continuous Voter Registration will be taken to the new polling units.

“This will create room for social distancing; security men will also manage the election well. We don’t want Nigerians to suffer during elections. We want Nigerians to have a good voting experience.

“We also want a situation where presiding officers and observers will have spaces to do their job, and we want to complete this process as soon as possible”, he explained.

INEC National Commissioner (Operations), Prof. Okechukwu Ibeano who made his presentation earlier said that the commission failed in its previous attempts to expand the PIs because of poor  communication and the initiative was politicised by stakeholders,

While acknowledging that INEC is now more systematic to handle the expansion, he urged the heads of its Electoral Operations Department to ensure that the guideline was followed religiously for optimal result.