The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced a 40% increase in the number of polling units (PUs) in Enugu State after 25 years.
Speaking at ‘Meeting/Engagement With Stakeholders on Expanding Voter Access To Polling Units,’ Professor Okechukwu Ibeanu, INEC National Commissioner supervising the South East said additional 1187 polling units were added to the existing 2958 PUs to bring the total to 4145.
He explained that: “The population has grown tremendously and new areas have been developed and using a statistics of 1996 has become outdated.
“The polling unit is the heart of a Democratic system because access to polling units is the key determinant of citizen’s participation in politics.”
Prof Ibeanu said the creation of the new polling units is in line with section 49 of the electoral act which says that the commission shall create polling units and allocate voters to them.
He narrated that “efforts to create the polling units failed in the past because the stakeholders felt left behind, thus, in doing this again, the Commission created a document to engage the stakeholders.
Speaking earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Chief Emeka Ononamadu highlighted on the purpose of the gathering.
He said: “We are gathered here today to unveil the extent that INEC has gone to ensure that voters in Enugu and in general have improved access to polling units through the conversion of existing voting points to Units. This we hope will lead to improved participation during elections.
“You will recall that in 2019 general election, Enugu state recorded less than 40% voter participation, which was partly blamed on citizens difficulty to access polling units.
Before the commencement of CVR in 2017, the total number of registered voters in Enugu was 1, 429, 231 and the number of poling units are 2,958. After the CVR the total number of registered voters went up to 1,944,016 while the number of polling units remained the same after additional 514,785 voters were registered.
But to make access easier for voters, the Commission introduced voting points which were located in the same vicinity and did not do much in decongesting the areas with high population of registered voters. Now, the Commission is giving autonomy to 1187 existing Voting Points by converting them into additional 1187 Polling Units and relocating them to suitable places that will improve citizens access to poling units during elections.”
In his remarks, the Chairman of Enugu State Council of Traditional Rulers, Igwe Amb. Lawrence Agubuzo said that the polling units created aren’t enough.
While applauding the commission for creating room for more citizen participation, he maintained that the number should be increased as it will help reduce voter apathy and reduce the stress people go through to vote on an election day.
From the data released by INEC, Enugu East Local Government got the highest number of new polling units, 172 while Igboetiti got the least,10
Others are: Aninri 36, Awgu 28, Enugu North 159, Enugu South 129, Ezeagu 20, Igboeze North 73, Igboeze South 90, Isiuzo 41, Nkanu East 41, Nkanu West 32, Nsukka 116, Oji-River 48, Udenu 98, Uzouwani 18 and Udi 71
