The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has ruled out the creation of additional polling units ahead of the forthcoming general elections. The INEC National Commissioner in charge of Operations, Prof. Okechukwu Ibeanu who made this known on Tuesday in Abuja also reiterated that the commission will transmit results manually because the 2018 Electoral Bill
which made provision for electronic transmission of results was not given assent by President Muhammadu Buhari.
“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.
"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,”
