INEC to relocate polling units from palace, worship centers to public places

From Ahmed Kaigama, Bauchi

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said all polling units allocated at or in front of Palaces, Mosques, Churches, private residences and public buildings marked for demolition are to be relocated to public places for easy accessibility in the forthcoming general elections.

The Bauchi State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Samuel Maidaki Usman stated this yesterday at the stakeholders meeting in Bauchi, on the ongoing relocation and renaming of polling units, adding that the decision to relocate the polling units at Emirs’ palaces and places of worship was reached at one of the commission’s series of meetings with stake holders.

According to him, “I can’t say much about it because is a national directive that we should relocate all polling units at and in front of places of worship, palaces and private residences to public places, so that electorate can have easy access to the polling units.”

Usman further disclosed that the commission has decided that polling units should henceforth be located only in public tertiary institutions, primary and secondary schools, public recreational centres, parks, training centers, libraries, post offices, community centers, halls and town halls. Others are; health dispensaries, Court Houses, local secretariats, premises of government institutions, tents, canopies in open spaces, parks and barracks.

He said: “This no doubt, calls for relocation and re-naming of some of the existing units in the state, apart from the new ones to be allocated.”

According to him, the commission had a total of 120, 000 polling units nation-wide and approved new additional 30,000 polling units which bring to total of 150,000 polling units across the country.

He said: “From this figure, Bauchi State has been allocated a total of 1,111 polling units. When this is added to the 4, 074 existing polling units in the state, it comes up to 5, 185 units. In distributing these 30,000 units to the states, the Commission used 85% proportionality, size and 15% of equality.”

The Head of Department, Elections and Operations, Mr. Ishaya Kaze while giving the breakdown of the allocation of the additional 30,000 additional polling units said following the population and size of the Local Government Areas in the state Ningi, Toro, Katigum and Bauchi LGAs got the highest number of polling units.