INEC To Publish List Of New Polling Units

By Ekwi Ajide (Abuja Bureau Chief)

Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, says it will publish the list of new polling units next week.

The National Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at the formal reception of a new fire engine deployed to the Commission by the Federal Fire Service.

The Fedeeal fire service, as a member of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), was concerned about the recent attacks on INEC offices across the country, deployed the fire engine to assist stem the tide of arson

In his remarks, the National Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, said the essence of the gesture was because out of the forty two attacks on the Commission’s facilities nationwide, eighteen of them resulted from arson and three others by a combination of arson and vandalization.

The Chairman recalled that concerned by the incidents, the Commission convened an emergency meeting of ICCES last week at which the security agencies renewed their determination to collaborate more with the Commission to address this challenge beyond the routine protection of INEC assets and the security of its officials, voters, observers, the media, candidates and their agents during elections hence the Federal Fire Service offered to deploy additional state-of-the-art fire engine to the INEC headquarters to complement the two existing trucks.

Professor Yakubu, noted that the Federal Fire Service had also directed its State offices to take additional protective measures around other INEC facilities nationwide.

The INEC boss noted that the inauguration of the new fire engine is another affirmation of the support to the Commission derives from the Federal Fire Service whose personnel, already deployed permanently to the Commission, and other security agencies especially as the Commission resumes Continuous Voter Registration nation wide.

He disclosed that for the first time in twenty five years, the Commission had concluded work on the expansion of voter access to polling units ahead of the CVR exercise adding that details of the locations of the registration centres and the procedure for the commencement of online registration will also be made available after a series of consultative meetings with stakeholders next week.