Creates additional 2,424 in Rivers
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday announced the date for the forthcoming 2023 general elections.
Chairman of the commission, Prof Mahmood Yakubu made the announcement at a one-day public hearing on the National Electoral Offences Commission (Establishment) Bill 2021, organized by the Senate Committee on INEC.
Mahmood Yakubu said the general elections are one year, nine months, two weeks and six days or 660 days from the date of the announcement, hence the need for preparation.
He said the elections have been scheduled to hold on Saturday, February 18, stating that the complete timetable would be out before the end of the year.
“By the principle established by the Commission, the 2023 General Election will hold on Saturday 18th February 2023 which is exactly one year, nine months, two weeks and six days or 660 days from today,” he said.
“We hope to release the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the General Election immediately after the Anambra Governorship election scheduled to hold on 6th November 2021.
“To do so, there should be clarity and certainty about the electoral legal framework to govern the election. We are confident that the National Assembly will do the needful in earnest.”
Meanwhile, the commission says it is now set to commence activities for the expansion of access to Polling Units in Rivers State by converting the existing 2,424 voting units to full polling units.
Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Obo Effanga who disclosed this to newsmen in Port Harcourt said the essence is to bring the polling units closer to the over three million voters in the state.
He further explained that any polling unit that does not meet the standard of the commission shall be relocated, stressing that no unit shall be sited in private compounds.
He urged politicians to desist from lobbying the commission as its guidelines must be followed strictly.
Effanga said, staff of the Commission “are now being deployed to the field to identify the locations of Polling Units (PUs) that already have voting points (VPs) with a view to converting such voting points to stand-alone PUs, based on the template approved by the commission”.
He added that those staff shall also proceed to identify locations for the siting of the new polling units, relying on scientifically generated data on the concentration of voters in the existing polling units.
The REC said, “the principle for the expansion of the access to polling units is simply to convert the voting points attached to the existing polling units into stand alone polling units”
The commission clarified that “no new or additional polling units will be created outside the conversion of existing voting points whose identity and locations are already established by the Commission.”
As conditions for the expansion, Effanga called on members of communities in Rivers State to “cooperate with INEC staff deployed for this important assignment by granting them unfettered access to all facilities and locations where the exercise will take place, warning against the clamour for new polling units as such efforts will end in futility following the need to adhere strictly to INEC’s guidelines for the exercise.
