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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has announced that this weekend’s governorship elections will not hold in 38 polling units in Imo State and two in Bayelsa due to lack of registered voters.
The commission equally disclosed that 16 political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa while 18 parties nominated candidates in both Imo and Kogi states.
INEC, in a statement signed in Abuja on Tuesday by National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, declared that no electoral materials have been produced for the affected locations just as no official will be deployed to them.
The electoral umpire also noted that though each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units, only 137,973 agents for the three states were uploaded into the INEC dedicated portal at the close of the deadline.
It however lamented that some political parties have no polling units or collation centre agents in some states despite having candidates in the election.
“This publication contains infographic summary of registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected by Local Government Areas (LGAs) as well as the distribution of registered voters by gender, age group, occupation and disability.
“The publication also includes the list of candidates and detailed information on the two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo states without registered voters. The commission has repeatedly said that elections will not hold in these polling units. No materials have been produced for these locations and no officials will be deployed to them.”
On the lists of polling and collation agents for the elections, the commission noted that; “16 political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa and 18 in both Imo and Kogi states. The elections will be held in 10,470 polling units (excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters).
“Each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units as well as 649 Ward, 56 LGA and three State collation centres.
“However, at the close of the deadline for uploading the list of agents to the INEC dedicated portal by political parties, 34,704 agents were uploaded for Bayelsa state, 65,274 for Imo state and 37,995 for Kogi state, making a total of 137,973 polling and collation agents for the three states.
“The detailed breakdown shows that not all the parties nominated agents for the polling and collation centres across the states. Indeed, some political parties have no polling unit or collation agents in some states despite having candidates in the election.
“The information booklet as well as the comprehensive summary of the agents and their distribution by polling units as well as the Ward, LGA and State collation centres have been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information,” the commission noted in the statement.
