Ahead of the June 28, 2021 deadline for the commencement of continuous voter registration across the country, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has begun a nationwide verification exercise to convert voting units to polling units.
The verification exercise is part of efforts by the electoral umpire to eliminate congestion at polling units and expand voting access to Nigerians.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed that 395 voting points were being converted to polling units in Karu Local Government, Nasarawa State.
Yakubu spoke at the INEC office in Karu, when he visited some of the proposed centres and existing polling units in Abuja and Nasarawa State on Tuesday.
The INEC boss said with the conversion of voting points to polling units, expanded access to polling units will be provided for voters and eliminate the congestion experienced at polling units.
According to him, the purpose of the verification exercise was to ensure that the right thing was done in the conversion of the voting points to polling units.
“All the National Commissioners are out, visiting the states of the Federation to verify the work of converting the voting points to polling units.
“So, we decided from the headquarters to visit some of the polling units and voting points in the FCT and also in the Karu Local Government, Nasarawa State.
“We have done that of FCT, we are now in Karu.
“You will recall that as part of our engagement with stakeholders, we show images of one of the congested polling units in the country from Karu in Nasarawa State.
“So, I have to verify that the right thing is being done in converting those voting points to polling units and relocating them in line with the Commission’s guidelines.
“So far, it is a work in progress. At the end of the exercise will address the media,” he said.
While assuring that the Continuous Voters Registration exercise would commence on June 28 after the polling units conversion, he said voters would be given the opportunity to choose the location they wish to be their new polling units.
He urged stakeholders and community leaders to support the commission and sensitise the people on the ongoing exercise for the conversion of polling units.
INEC National Commissioner, Mohammed Haruna, who also accompanied the Chairman, told journalists that the visit was to ensure the field work carried out by the officers of the commission for conversion exercise was okay.
Haruna said at the end of the verification exercise, INEC would hold a stakeholders’ meeting to inform stakeholders what the commission had done as well as to get their inputs.
He said that the process of the PUs conversion was in three stages namely the fieldwork, which was undertaken by INEC Electoral officers.
“The next stage is a verification and that is what we have embarked on from Monday, which was a public holiday, from May 3 to May 7 and from May 8, we will do stakeholders meeting,” he said.
He said that when that was concluded the CVR would commence by June 28.
