Anietie Udobit,Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Monday met with leaers of the 18 registered Political Parties ahead of the 2023 general elections slated for February 25 and March 11.
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INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that elections will not hold in about 240 polling units across 28 States of the federation, said the affected polling units have no registered voters.
He said with the exclusion of the 240 polling units, elections will take place in about 176,606 polling units across the country.
The Commission also warned it will not accept a situation where two or more party agents report to the polling units, causing confusion, adding that any agent engaged in such acts will be arrested and prosecuted.
The units where elections will not hold range from one in Edo, Kwara, Rivers and Zamfara States to 38 in Imo, which has the highest.
The number of polling in the various stages are : Abia (12); Adamawa (4); Anambra (6); Bauchi (6); Bayelsa (2); Benue (10); Borno (12); Delta (4); Ebonyi (4); Edo (1); Enugu (4); Imo (38); Jigawa (3); Kaduna (8); Kano (10); Katsina (12); Kebbi (5); Kwara (1); Lagos (3), Nasarawa (11); Niger (10); Ondo (2); Plateau (6); Rivers (1); Sokoto (8); Taraba (34); Yobe (11); Zamfara (1) and the FCT (11).
He said”There are 240 polling units without registered voters spread across 28 States and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT). They range from one polling unit to 12 polling units in each State and the FCT, except Taraba and Imo States with 34 and 38 polling units respectively.
“No new registrants chose the polling units and no voters indicated interest to transfer to them during the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), mainly for security reasons. This means that no elections will hold in these polling units.
“In our avowed commitment to transparency, the Commission is making available to Nigerians a comprehensive list of these polling units by name, code number and their locations by State, Local Government and Registration Area.
“With this development, the number of polling units where elections will hold nationwide on 25th February 2023 and 11th March 2023 is now 176,606. Hard copies of the list are included in your folders for this meeting.
“Above all, Nigerians deserve the right to know the locations of these polling units. Accordingly, the soft copy of the list has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information and guidance.”