5th May, 2021
By Peter Okolie
The African Democratic Congress (ADC) has expressed concern over plans by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to create additional polling units ahead of the 2023 general elections.
ADC National Chairman, Chief Okey Nwosu, said at a news conference in Onitsha on Wednesday that creating additional polling units would amount to supplementary cost for political parties.
Earlier, INEC had said that expanding voters’ access to polling units was crucial to voters’ turnout in elections.
However, Nwosu wondered why INEC would create more polling stations in addition to the existing 120,000, in spite of the nation’s economic challenges.
“Is it because INEC is spending from government coffers?” he asked.
According to him, a country like the U.S., with more population and landmass than Nigeria, has just about 240,000 polling places.
“How do we justify this with INEC’s call for additional polling units? he said.
The national chairman said that rather than create additional polling units, the commission should be creative about spending public money.
He said that the quality of elected persons in the country was decreasing “due to a corrupt system”, and urged members of the National Assembly to rise and challenge the occasion.
“Our elections and democracy should not continue to drain the country,” he said.
NAN