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INEC SUSPENDS CREATION OF ADDITIONAL 30,000 POLLING UNITS

The Election Management Board (EMB) of the Independent National Election (INEC) has suspended the creation of the controversial 30,000 additional polling units. It cited time as the reason for the suspension.

The decision of the commission to create additional polling units that was seen generally as favouring the North against the South has caused a lot of controversy to the extent that some politicians have taken INEC to court.

In the proposed creation of additional polling units, the North has over 21,850 polling centres compared to the South with less than 8,000.

But on Tuesday, the commission’s Secretary, Mrs. Augusta C. Ogakwu, said in a statement that the commission met and reviewed reports sent in from the states by Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) on reconfiguration of the polling unit structure and creation of additional polling units.

She said: “After taking everything into consideration, especially the controversy over the creation of additional polling units that have been overheating the polity, and the apparent inadequacy of time for the exercise, the commission took a decision to suspend the exercise until after the 2015 general election.”

However, she further said the commission, nevertheless would continue with the use of voting points, where necessary, to mitigate population pressure in overcrowded polling units during the forthcoming elections.

The INEC secretary also said in the statement that the commission would relocate polling units from unsuitable locations.

INEC further said as much as possible, it would ensure that polling units are located in enclosures such as classrooms, rather than in open spaces.
Meanwhile, as the commission has commenced the Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) today, it yesterday released tips to ensure a seamless exercise across the states.

The affected states where continuous registration is expected to take place as from today are Kano, Edo, Plateau, Ogun, Imo, Lagos and Adamawa.

A statement by the commission which was signed by the
Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Kayode Idowu, urged eligible voters to first check whether their names are contained in the register by sending a short message to dedicated lines before presenting themselves for fresh registration.

According to INEC in the statement, “To make room for eligible persons presently not on the biometric Register of Voters during the CVR commencing in seven states on November 12, INEC enjoins residents of the affected states who are yet to get their PVCs to first interrogate the register and ascertain whether or not they are already on it.”

The statement further said: “If they are on the register, they need not present themselves for CVR – even if they have not obtained their PVCs.”

INEC said the way to check if their names are on the register of voters is simply to send a text message to dedicated lines with the following information: Name of state, surname, the last five or six digits of the VIN (i.e., Voter Identification Number) on their Temporary Voters’ Card (for example: Lagos, Salama, 06782:please ensure the coma in-between) and send to 08171646879.”

The commission further said alternatively, “someone doing the checking could preface the short message with INEC (e.g.: INEC, Lagos, Salama, 06782) and send to 20120.

“The interrogator will get an instant response giving his/her full profile on the register and the polling unit number if the person is actually on the register; or an advice to the contrary if the person is not.

“If a person is on the register and has not been able to obtain his or her PVC, he or she should go to the relevant local government office of INEC where distribution of the cards will continue daily till the end of January 2015.

“For avoidance of doubt, only those who the text message service shows are not on the register need to present themselves for CVR, in addition to persons who are registering for the first time ever. If only the people who genuinely need to register present themselves for CVR, the exercise will be efficient and far-reaching.

“The states where CVR will hold from Wednesday, November 12 to Monday, November 17, are Kano, Edo, Plateau, Ogun, Imo, Lagos and Adamawa.

Also the commission said that the exercise is available for people(s) who want to check the register of voters from every other state of the federation.

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