Politics INEC promises to relocate polling booths from shrines

[LequteMan]

Prof. Attahiru Jega, the Chairman, Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Monday said that the commission would relocate polling booths located around shrines in some parts of the country.

He made this known in Abuja at a one-day conference on Knowledge and Experience Sharing on Voters' Register with State Independent Electoral Commissions which brought together election managers and partner agencies in the country to share knowledge and experience on election matters.

“No polling unit is to exist in shrine, forest or isolated areas. We have done it before; we relocated one in Anambra and we got all sorts of petitions.

“They said it was a farm settlement but investigation proved them wrong. We have investigated it, they are just there to help other people to rig elections.'' He said.

He urged members of the public to avail the Commission with information on such polling units for prompt action.

He said the continued voters’ registration and de-limitation would take care of persons displaced due to natural disasters or civil strife and promised that the Commission would invest “significant time, energy and resources'' in compiling a new voters' register in preparation of the general elections.

He said the Commission had conducted a review of voter’s register in Kogi, Adamawa, Bayelsa, Sokoto and Cross Rivers ahead of the 2011 elections, but that the exercise was suspended in Edo and Ondo owing to “mistrust and biter contention among politicians.” He also said a similar exercise for the Nov.16 election in Anambra had been conducted.

He said INEC would conduct the exercise nationwide before the end of the year to give eligible voters the opportunity to register and participate in future elections.

A Director at the UN Development Programme, Dr Mourtada Deme, said the 2011 elections marked a turning point for INEC's effort towards conducting a hitch-free elections and that the commission had done a lot in its effort to review the electoral act as well as the review of voter's register, among other things. (NAN)