‘Some are located in shrines’ — INEC chairman laments limited access to polling units

Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says there is limited access to many polling units across the country.

Yakubu stated this on Tuesday, when he appeared before the national assembly joint committee on INEC and electoral matters.

The INEC chairman said the 119,973 polling units created in 1996 are no longer conducive, because many of them are overcrowded and are located in conflict areas, homes of political chieftains, forests and shrines.

“What is the state of voter access to the polling units in Nigeria? The simple answer is that it is in a crisis and has been so for some time. The right to vote is a fundamental democratic right but existing polling units can no longer guarantee the exercise of that right because of the crisis of access to them,” he said.

“The crisis, I must say, affects all parts of the country. We have a quarter of a century — 25 years in this country — without changing the existing polling units.

“They are no longer adequate. They are not conducive, especially in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic.

“What is the manifestation of this crisis to access polling units? The first one is overcrowding. They are prone to electoral violence and this sometimes leads to cancellation of elections and the declaration of some results as inconclusive.

“Some are located in conflict areas, homes of political chieftains, forests and even shrines.”

Proposing a solution to the problem, Yakubu suggested that voting points should be converted to polling units and moved to underserved areas.

He said citizens could apply for polling units to be created, but it may take time because of administrative processes.

“Over politicisation of what should be an administrative matter under section 42 of the electoral act undermined previous attempts to find a permanent solution, thus disenfranchising millions of Nigerians,” he said.

On his part, Senate President Ahmad Lawan said the electoral commission has the support of the national assembly.

Lawan also expressed optimism that the amendment to the electoral act will be passed around June.