40 Polling Unit in Imo Excluded From Saturday’s Governorship Election – INEC

Ahead of the Saturday governorship election in Imo, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that polling units without registered voters will not hold elections.

The commission has also released comprehensive information regarding 40 polling units where elections will not take place on Saturday.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, in a statement, noted that there are two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo without any registered voters.

Olumekun added that 16 political parties are sponsoring candidates in Bayelsa State, while 18 parties are sponsoring candidates in both Imo and Kogi states.

He noted that the elections will be held in 10,470 polling units, excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters.

The commissioner explained that each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all polling units, as well as 649 wards, 56 local government areas, and three state collation centers.

Olumekun said: “In continuation of the Commission’s preparations for the three off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States, the Commission is making available two publications on the forthcoming polls as follows:

“This publication contains an 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 State without registered voters.

“The Commission has repeatedly said that elections will not be held in these polling units. No materials have been produced for these locations, and no officials will be deployed to them.”

Olumekun noted that as 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 national commissioner said that some political parties did not nominate agents for polling and collation centers in certain states, despite having candidates in the election.

Kanyi Daily recalls that Imo state capital, Owerri went agog Tuesday, as the Labour Party (LP) held a massive campaign in preparation for the governorship election on Saturday, November 11.