The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced that there would be no voting in polling units with no registered voters on Saturday, November 11.
The commission also released detailed information on 40 polling locations that will not hold polls on Saturday.
In a statement, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, stated that two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo lacked registered voters.
Olumekun added that 16 political parties are sponsoring candidates for the election in Bayelsa State, while 18 parties are sponsoring candidates in both Imo and Kogi states.
He noted that elections would be held in 10,470 polling units (excluding the 40 polling units without registered voters).
The commissioner explained that each political party is expected to nominate polling agents for all the polling units, as well as 649 Ward, 56 LGA, and three state collation centers.
Olumekun said: “In continuation of the Commission’s preparations for the three off-cycle governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States, the Commission is making available two publications on the forthcoming polls as follows:
“This publication contains an infographic summary of registered voters and Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) collected by local government areas (LGAs) as well as the distribution of registered voters by gender, age group, occupation, and disability.
“The publication also includes the list of candidates and detailed information on the two polling units in Bayelsa and 38 in Imo State without registered voters.
“The Commission has repeatedly said that elections will not be held in these polling units. No materials have been produced for these locations, and no officials will be deployed to them.”
Olumekun noted that at the close of the deadline for uploading the list of agents to the INEC dedicated portal by political parties, 34,704 agents were uploaded for Bayelsa State, 65,274 for Imo State, and 37,995 for Kogi State, making a total of 137,973 polling and collation agents for the three states.
He said the detailed breakdown shows that not all the parties nominated agents for the polling and collation centers across the states.
The national commissioner said some political parties have no polling unit or collation agents in some states despite having candidates in the election
Dear Imolites, please note that there will be no election in the following Polling Units (as attached in frame 1 & 2) with no registered Voters.
Do not expect personnel and materials at these locations.#ImoDecides2023 pic.twitter.com/dM1PyALm5Q— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) November 8, 2023