As part of the plans to ensure credible elections and increase voter turnout, Nigeria has unveiled plans to increase the number of polling units ahead of the country’s 2023 general elections. However, a major opposition party has hinted that move might not be a guarantor of free and fair elections.
Nigeria Has 119,973 Polls Servicing Over 80 Million Voters
Reassuring the public of its commitment to secure the elections through an increased number of polling units, the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, stated that experience had shown that enhancing voters access to polling units had a positive effect on voter turnout and the elections in general.
Speaking with stakeholders in the capital city of Abuja, Yakubu revealed that the last time new polling units were established was in 1996 and this was done by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria (NECON). He further stated that these polling units, a total of 119,973 at the time, were created to cater to a projected voting population of about 50 million. Citing an increase in voter population, the emergence of new settlements, urbanization, the recent COVID-19 pandemic, as well as other factors, Yakubu explained that it had become imperative to decongest and increase access to the polls.
“Today, the number of registered voters is 84,004,084 and it is set to rise after we resume Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) ahead of the 2023 General Election. Yet, the number of polling units remains static,” he said. “The Nigerian voter in particular and our democracy, in general, will be the biggest beneficiaries of increased access to polling units.”
Constant Decrease In Voter Turnout
Also speaking at the stakeholder meeting, the INEC National Commissioner, Okechukwu Ibeanu revealed that there has been a steady decline in the voter turnout in Nigeria. Ibeanu said between 1999 and 2019, voter turnout in Nigeria dropped by 17 per cent.
“But, compare that to Ghana, between 2019 and 2020 voter turnout actually rose by 17 per cent. We think that this is strongly correlated with the number of voters per polling unit,” he explained. “If you look at the Nigeria situation during that same period, the number of voters per polling unit, increased by 217. Conversely, for Ghana, it decreased by 91 voters.”
Polling Unit Expansion Is Not Enough – Opposition
Meanwhile, the Lagos State Chapter of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) in Nigeria has called on the election governing body to prioritize election integrity over the expansion of polling units ahead of 2023 polls. Speaking on behalf of the party, Lagos PDP Spokesman, Taofik Gani, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that INEC should rather direct its efforts at achieving robust electoral reform that would make people’s votes count.
“The issues of INEC and acceptable election processes are beyond polling units. Creating 100 PUs on a street won’t change the integrity problem in our elections,” he said, before asking, “Why can’t we have electronic voting linked to voters’ ID and the election can be done online?”
This story is part of our new series on Nigeria where we analyse electoral and political reform in the country ahead of the next general elections in 2023.
