The Polling Units of Nigeria: Applauding INEC for a Good Job

Nigeria will not have 30,000 polling units.

 

Nigeria will have 150,000 polling units (30,000 additional polling units plus 120,000 old polling units).

 

If out of 150,000 polling units anybody talks only about the location of the 30,000 additional polling units, we must ask ourselves: what of the remaining 120,000 polling units?

 

The answer to that burning question is supplied below.

North West Zone: 29,552 old PUs + 8,806 additional PUs = 38,358 total PUs for an average of 485 voters per PU (based on 18,616,499 total registered voters)

South West Zone: 24,672 old PUs + 4,158 additional PUs = 28,830 total PUs for an average of 457 voters per PU (based on 13,188,854 total registered voters)

North East Zone: 16,459 old PUs + 5,291 additional PUs = 21,750 total PUs for an average of 480 voters per PU (based on 10,447,510 total registered voters)

North Central Zone: 15,419 old PUs + 6,318 additional PUs = 21,737 total PUs for an average of 486 voters per PU (based on 10,572,968 total registered voters)

South South Zone: 17,760 old PUs + 3,087 additional PUs = 20,847 total PUs for an average of 455 voters per PU (based on 9,486,783 total registered voters)

South East Zone: 15,549 old PUs + 1,167 additional PUs = 16,716 total PUs for an average of 429 voters per PU (based on 7,178,185 total registered voters)

FCT: 562 old PUs + 1,200 additional PUs = 1,762 total PUs for an average of 507 voters per PU (based on 892,628 total registered voters)

 

Please note that the smaller the average number of voters per PU, the lesser the congestion, the lesser the crowd at a polling unit, the shorter the queues, the lesser the waiting times for voter accreditation, voting and counting.

 

This means an easier time of voting for the elderly, for pregnant women, for nursing mothers and for people with disabilities.

 

Anambra, with the highest number of registered voters in the densely populated South East zone has the lowest congestion in that entire zone!

 

Anambra’s congestion will be the third lowest in the entire country, higher only than Ekiti and Bayelsa states!

 

We should all applaud INEC, and work with that institution to deal with some of the real issues that are delaying our progress, like how to guarantee the security of every voter who comes out on election day, especially the women of Gombe and NYSC members working for INEC; how to protect all votes cast and ensure every vote will count; how to ensure all people with disability exercise their right to vote.