The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says Gombe State will get additional 770 polling units to the existing 2,218, following expansion of voter access to the polling units.
Alhaji Umar Ibrahim, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, disclosed this during the stakeholders’ meeting on expansion of voter access to polling units on Thursday in Gombe.
Ibrahim said the increment would bring the total of polling units in the state to 2,988.
He noted that it was timely following the planned roll out of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in June.
According to him, until now the commission has been using the polling unit structure created in 1996, hence the need to embark on the expansion.
He said that field officers have gone round the local government areas, visited every new proposed location and captured the required information using GPRS.
Ibrahim said that each polling units would accommodate 500 to 700 voters, adding that priority attention would be given to new settlements.
“The commission adheres strictly to provision of the guidelines given to them by the headquarters to improve service delivery,” he said
The INEC commissioner said some of the challenges witnessed in polling units during the exercise include; growth in voter population and congestion at polling units which affected the health and safety of people.
In his remarks, the Commissioner of Police, Mr Ishola Babaita, urged the general public to behave in an orderly manner when the CVR begins.
