As the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Nigeria sets its sights on the 2023 general elections, political party, the African Democratic Congress (ADC) has rejected plans by the Commission to create additional polling units.
The Commission had, at the tail end of 2020, announced its plans to expand on polling units available to voters across the country. Citing Nigeria’s rapidly growing population and its direct impact on the voting community, the Commission through its chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu has been pushing for an increase in polling units to increase access and ease the voting process in Nigeria.
Responding to this, ADC National Chairman, Chief Okey Nwosu at a press conference at the party’s national secretariat in Abuja, urged the electoral body to put the brakes on the polling unit as it happens to be a policy that might affect the economy of the country adversely. Comparing Nigeria to the United States of America, Nwosu noted that while the USA has a land mass of 9.8million square kilometres, it has only 250,000 polling units. Nigeria, he explained, has only 923,768 square kilometres and so far, has 120,000 polling units.
“Recently, INEC has been on the offensive to create more polling stations in addition to the existing 120,000 in spite of the Nigeria budget limitations and economic struggles,” he said. “INEC and the National Assembly have shown apathy to due diligence and efficacious financial management. The ration and rationale of election expenses to the GDP of the country is mind-boggling and sparks a sign of irresponsibility.”
Nwosu reiterated that the cost of electioneering was taking a toll on the country, so, therefore, it was important for National Assembly, INEC as well as political parties to shift their concern to the actual cost of elections its effects on the economy.
In August 2014, INEC, under the leadership of Prof. Attahiru Jega, sought to create 30,027 additional polling units ahead of the 2015 general election in Nigeria, with 21,615 in the north and 8,412 in the southern part of the country. Despite moves at the time, this did not come to fruition.
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.
