Ballot box
June 16, 2021
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the dates for conduct of the governorship elections in Ekiti and Osun States.
“In keeping with our policy of announcing the dates of elections in advance to enable early and effective preparations by all concerned, the Commission has approved that the Ekiti State Governorship election will hold on Saturday, June 18, 2022, while the Osun State Governorship election will hold one month later on Saturday, July 16, 2022,” he said.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this on Wednesday at the meeting of the commission held at its headquarters in Abuja.
Professor Yakubu added, “Looking to the near future, the Commission is preparing to conduct the remaining off-season end of tenure elections ahead of the 2023 general elections.
“Already, activities listed in the timetable for the Anambra State Governorship election are being implemented. So too are those of the FCT Area Council election holding on February 12, 2022.”
He informed the meeting that the detailed Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the two governorship elections have been uploaded on the website and social media platforms of the electoral umpire.
The INEC boss, therefore, appealed to political parties and aspirants to ensure rancour-free primaries and conduct peaceful electioneering campaigns.
He stated that the history of creating and expanding polling units in Nigeria has been long and complex, noting that their adequacy and accessibility, in terms of number and location across the country, were some of the challenges that had to be addressed in the interest of credible elections.
As a result, Professor Yakubu said INEC has converted the existing voting points and voting point settlements in various parts of the country to polling units.
He revealed that the commission has relocated many polling units from inappropriate places to public buildings accessible to voters, polling agents, observers, and the media during elections.
“After wide-ranging consultations with stakeholders and fieldwork by our officials, the 56,872 voting points and voting point settlements were converted and added to the existing 119,974 Polling Units.
“Consequently, the commission is glad to report that 25 years since the current polling units were created in 1996, the hard nut is finally and successfully cracked after several unsuccessful attempts. Nigeria now has 176,846 full-fledged polling units,” he said.
