Isiyaku Ahmed
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) plans to consult stakeholders on challenges which the declining access to polling units pose to democracy and election management. Some of these issues are potentially disenfranchising millions of Nigerians and posing health risks in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, such as over-crowding, unserved populations and poor locations.
The consultation will engage diverse stakeholders including political parties, civil society organizations, religious leaders, traditional institutions, labour unions, socio-cultural organizations, various arms of the federal government, as well as state governments.
The National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye Esq in a signed statement, Tuesday and made available to Stallion Times said the Commission’s decision emerged at the end of its weekly meeting held in Abuja.
According to the statement, the Commission had for the past several weeks been preparing for the national engagements to discuss the inadequacies of Polling Units in Nigeria and the challenges they pose to election management.
“For several years, the Commission has tried to address this fundamental challenge to democratic consolidation and election administration with minimal success. This has been mainly due to inadequate engagement between the Commission and stakeholders.
“Consequently, the Commission has had to resort to interim measures such as creating Voting Points at Polling Units nationwide and establishing Voting Point Settlements in the Federal Capital Territory.
“These engagements will afford an opportunity for the Commission to consult with stakeholders in order to build a genuine national consensus to address the problem of declining voter access to Polling Units,” Okoye said.
The Commission appealed to all stakeholders in the electoral process and Nigerians at last to cooperate with it to address these issues.
