The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out additional polling units for the 2019 general elections.
INEC’s National Commissioner in charge of Operations, Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu, said this in Abuja on Tuesday.
He also reiterated that the commission will transmit results manually because the 2018 Electoral Bill which made provision for electronics transmission of results was not given assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
The commissioner, who spoke during the quarterly consultative meeting with media representatives, added that accreditation and voting would be done simultaneously.
“Since the Bill on Electoral Act which had the electronic transmission of results was not assented, the issue has come up repeatedly in the media. Clause 22 (x) of the 2010 Electoral Act (as amended) has been misconstrued to mean that it will be electronic transmission of results.
“The extant laws are clear on how results would be transmitted. But we will seek the legal backing for electronic transfer of results in future elections. So, the transmission of results in 2019 will be in accordance with the Electoral Act which will be manual.
“INEC has been piloting electronic transmission since 2014. The only reason we need a law is that the law has already made provision on how results would be transmitted and it is through manual process. For you to change it, you need another law. So, we need a clear legal provision to invalidate it,” Ibeanu said.
He said that people without Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) would be allowed vote if their names appear in the manual voters’ register.
He added that this would be done after they would have dropped their fingerprints and telephone numbers for the purpose of capturing them in future exercises.
He added that what is more important is not their telephone numbers but fingerprints to check persons who may want to undermine the system.
On his part, the commission’s Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, while emphasizing that INEC has not changed the number of polling units and voting points used for the 2015 general elections and the 2016 Area Council elections in the FCT, added that the commission has not created new polling units and would not create any polling unit for the 2019 general elections.
He said, “On polling units, the commission wishes to assure the media that there is no change in the number of polling units and voting points used for the 2015 general elections and the 2016 Area Council elections in the FCT. Any insinuation that new polling units, voting points or voting points (settlement) are being created by the commission is utterly baseless and should be disregarded.
According to him, contrary to what prevailed in the 2015 elections when voters do accreditation and come later to vote, accreditation and voting would take place simultaneously for this year’s elections.
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