INEC shuts 19 illegal polling units in A/Ibom
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Akwa Ibom State, Mr Mike Igini, says 19 illegal polling units earlier created in the bush, hotels, churches, and people’s personal houses have been shut.
Speaking yesterday in Uyo during a strategic stakeholders engagement on the theme, ‘Broad Outline of the 2019 Elections in Akwa Ibom State: The Road Map’, organised by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Igini said new polling units had been created in public places to replace them.
He said plans to rig the 2019 elections in Akwa Ibom State would fail, and warned politicians that the rigging scheme would not work as the commission had devised strategy to track all INEC materials.
Igini, who said only the will of the people would count during the elections, added that with the deployment of modern techniques in the 2019 elections, the use of political thugs for ballot snatching, and result falsification, among other electoral vices, would be out of place.
While giving an assurance that the security agencies would work towards providing a level playing field for all political parties to thrive, the REC advised party leaders to talk to their members to conduct themselves well by ensuring strict adherence to the code of conduct and Section 130 of the Electoral Act.
On voter’s permanent cards, Igini asked political parties to mobilise their supporters to collect their PVCs in order to vote during the elections.
The Akwa Ibom State governor, Udom Emmanuel, who also spoke at the forum, praised Igini for the assurance of integrity at the forthcoming elections.
The Commissioner of Police, Akwa Ibom State command, Mr. Adeyemi Ogunjemilusi, said the police would maintain neutrality and impartiality to ensure that all forms of intimidation on the electorate were eliminated.