Party wants INEC to make public status of polling units in Nigeria

Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has called on Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make public the location and status of polling units across the country.

The party made the call in a statement issued by its National Publicity Secretary, Mr Kola Ologbondiyan, on Friday in Abuja.

PDP alleged that INEC was secretly planning to create 30,000 illegal polling units in compromised areas in favour of All Progressives Congress (APC).

The party alleged that there were series of “clandestine meetings’’ “compromised officials of INEC and certain agents of APC.’’

PDP said that from the meeting, there was plot to sneak in 30,000 illegal polling units in some remote areas and through which they planned to allocate votes to the APC.

“Having completely lost confidence in the integrity of INEC under Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, we unequivocally demand that all processes leading to the 2019 must be subjected to open review of political parties and stakeholders at all levels.

“In this regard, we demand that INEC makes public the location and status of all polling units.

“We also demand that the report of INEC investigation of underage voters in various parts of the country, particularly, Kano and Katsina states be made public.”

The party urged Nigerians to remain vigilant and monitor all processes leading to 2019 general elections, to ensure that it was not manipulated.

Reacting to the accusation, INEC Director of Publicity and Voter Education, Mr Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, toldNews Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the allegations were all false.

Osaze-Uzzi said “everybody knows the number of polling units in the country being published by INEC.

“The truth of the matter is that INEC cannot create illegal polling units because the law gives it the power to create polling units.

“If the commission has the power to create polling units, you cannot say it has created illegal polling units. We are not aware of such units and it is not true.

“However, any time we create additional polling units, citizens and stakeholders including political parties, media and Civil Society Organisations would be informed.”