Gov’ship Polls: 40 Polling Units Are Without Registered Voters — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 40 polling units in Imo and Bayelsa states are without registered voters.

This is as the governorship election in both states as well as Kogi State scheduled for November 11 is fast approaching.

According to a statement by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman for Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, two of the polling units are from Bayelsa State while 38 are from Imo State.

The Commission also published collected and uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) on polling unit basis in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi states.

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The statement reads: “The Commission met today, Monday 30th October 2023, specifically to review the ongoing preparations for the off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States scheduled for Saturday, 11th November 2023.

“As was done in recent elections, including the 2023 General Election, the Commission is publishing the comprehensive information of collected and uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in the three states on polling unit basis.

“The information also gives the distribution of the polling units by Local Government Areas, Registration Areas/Wards, the names of the polling units, their code numbers, number of registered voters and the number of collected as well as uncollected PVCs.

“Equally significantly, the list provides the names and locations of the two polling units in Bayelsa State and 38 in Imo State without registered voters.

“The breakdown for the three States indicates that out of 1,056,862 registered voters in Bayelsa State, 1,017,613 have collected their PVCs and 39, 249 are uncollected,” the statement read.

“In Imo State, the number of registered voters is 2,419,922 out of which 2,318,919 have collected their PVCs and 101,003 are uncollected, while in Kogi State, out of 1,932,654 registered voters, 1,833,160 have collected their PVCs and leaving 99,494 uncollected.”

In a parallel development, the Federal Government has allocated a budget of N18 billion for the forthcoming governorship elections in the states.

The announcement was made by the Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, Atiku Bagudu, following the Federal Executive Council Meeting held on Monday.

This allocation has been included in the N2.1 trillion supplementary budget for the fiscal year 2023.