From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said management of large crowds at many polling units remained a challenge at elections.
At the first quarterly consultative of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) for 2021 in Abuja, yesterday,INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, noted, during that the success of elections is largely a reflection of what happens at polling unit level.
He urged security agents on electoral duties to do more about the challenges of crowded polling units during elections across the country.
Yakubu said with only 119,973 Polling Units serving a voter population of more than 84 million, Nigeria faced an acute problem of voter access to polling units.
Yakubu recalled that the current polling units were established in 1996 by the defunct National Electoral Commission of Nigeria to serve a projected population of about 50 million voters.
“Over the last 25 years, the voter population has increased. New settlements have also emerged.
“However, in spite of these demographic and spatial changes, the number of polling units has remained the same as it was a quarter of a century ago. This problem must be addressed,’’ he said.
He said previous attempts by the Commission to expand voter access to polling units in 2007, 2014 and before the 2019 general elections were unsuccessful.
Yakubu expressed the appreciation of the Commission for the roles played by members of ICCES in the conduct of two off-cycle governorship elections in Edo and Ondo States in September and October 2020 respectively.
He also commended the members for their roles during the 16 legislative by-elections in 12 states in the last nine weeks.
The INEC chairman urged ICCES members to maintain the same level of professionalism at upcoming elections and ultimately at the 2023 general elections.
National Security Adviser, Retired Maj.-Gen. Babagana Monguno, commended the synergy between INEC and security agencies in recent elections in Edo and Ondo States and during other by-elections.
Monguno also commended the professionalism displayed by security personnel and expressed optimism that future elections would be better. He urged INEC to redouble efforts to ensure that the upcoming election in Anambra was devoid of rancour.
He commended INEC for expanding its ICCES committee to include the Nigeria Centre for Disease Control and the National Orientation Agency, saying their inclusion would further enlighten voters and mitigate the second wave of COVID-19.
Monguno was represented at the event by one of his officers, Mr Sanusi Galadima
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the meeting was attended by representatives of security agencies and those of paramilitary agencies.