Group Faults INEC’s Allotment Of Polling Units To Kogi Central 

Group Faults INEC’s Allotment Of Polling Units To Kogi Central

Representatives of traditional institutions, politicians, government and coalition of Civil Society Organisations, CSOs in Kogi Central have decried the low polling units allotted to the zone by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC.

The coalition under the  ‘Strategic Advocacy Group for the Expansion of Polling Units in Kogi Central met severally within the last one week since the release to review the situation.

In the last meeting of the group, Tuesday May 18, 2021 at the Hiltop Suite in Okene, the team took several decisions and position, which includes alerting the INEC about the gaps, the intricaciescand lopsidedness in the compilation and evaluation of the data that gave birth to the final results.

The group argued that though INEC is not entirely to be blamed for the inconsistency registered in the release, but the commission is  under obligation to give attention and meaning to agitations of every Nigerians, particularly in a multi-sectorial political states like Kogi.

“It is believed that INEC should look at critical issues of rural inhabitants, locations and access to information and proximity to polling points in the remote areas of the state before taken a such sensitive decision,”they added.

The group specifically frowned at the huge gaps between the three major ethnics in the state where the nine local government areas in Kogi East has an  additional polling units of 506 over that of the remaining twelve local government areas which is about 453

They said  Dekina local government alone has a total additional polling unit of 135 which is far above the total polling units in the central part of the state.

The group  advised that the upcoming Continuous Voters Registration, CVR exercise scheduled for June 28 across the country should be utilized by both the people and the INEC to correct these anomalies.

The chairman of the advocacy group, Mohammed Bougei Attah, said that the development is not only worrisome but also undermines the position of the people of Kogi Central politically and economically.

He  advocated the need  for more political will on the part of the government, the commission and the political elites to ensure these inconsistencies are reviewed, reversed or corrected to the benefit of all the citizens of the state.