Why 2023 Elections Will Not Hold in 240 Polling Units 

With just 10 days to the 2023 general elections, Nigerians have been told that the voter’s exercise will not hold in 240 polling units across the country. Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Prof Mahmood Yakubu made this announcement when he addressed members of the Inter-Party Advisory Council(IPAC) recently.

Mahmood who revealed that the polling units are part of the over 56,000 newly created polling units, said the units have no registered voters. He further added that no voter showed interest in being transferred to these polling units because of insecurity.

The 240 polling units were extracted from 28 states and the FCT. According to the electoral umpire, the 8 unaffected states include Akwa Ibom, Cross River, Ekiti, Gombe, Kogi, Ogun, Osun, and Oyo.

Here is a list of the affected states and the polling units

IMO STATE

Starting from the hottest state characterised by violent activities of the Indigenous People of Biafra(IPOB) and other criminal elements, Imo state leads the list, with 38 affected polling units.

TARABA STATE

Next on the list is Taraba state. The insecurity situation in some regions of this state has been attributed to evil men, who have not ceased to attack communities and selected military institutions. The state has 34 polling units because residents are struggling to stay safe in the region.

ABIA STATE

About 12 polling units were found with no registered voters because of insecurity.

KATSINA STATE

The state also had 12 polling units with no registered voters due to insecurity.

BORNO STATE

Borno State is known for the Boko haram insurgency which began in 2002. There were 12 polling units with no registered voters.

Nassarawa, FCT and Yobe states each had 11 polling units with no registered voters. Also, Benue, Kano, and Niger states each had 10 polling units with no registered voters. The following states were least affected:

Impact of insecurity on voter strength

The most affected zone is the North East, with a total of 67 affected polling units. It is closely followed by the South-East (64), North Central (49), and North West (47). These automatically affect the chances of political contenders whose supporters are largely from these zones. 

The 2023 presidential election is open to 18 contestants including Asiwaju Bola Tinubu of the All Progressive Congress (APC), Peter Obi of the Labour Party, and Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

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