The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has stated that political parties have not significantly complied with this warning and subsequent reminders by submitting the list of their agents ahead of the governorship elections taking place on November 11 in the states of Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi.
It stated that on Thursday, August 24, 2023, it notified all political parties of the launch of its online portal for the upload of the list of polling units and collation center agents.
In order to ensure a smooth procedure, the Commission said it subsequently consulted with party representatives on the process’s methodology.
In a statement released on Sunday, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee Sam Olumekun made the announcement.
He said, “However, political parties have yet to substantially comply by submitting the list of their agents, despite this notice and subsequent reminders.”
Only 55 percent of the 189,180 polling unit agents scheduled for Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi States have been uploaded to the authorized INEC Portal.
“Specifically, 23,720 out of 63,144 (37.6%) have been uploaded for Kogi State; 51,681 out of 85,644 (60%) have been uploaded for Imo; and 29,278 out of the predicted 40,372 (72%) have been submitted for Bayelsa State.
Similarly, only 1,246 (26.0%) out of 4,806 Collation Agents in Bayelsa, 1,638 (27.3%) out of 5,994 Collation Agents in Imo, and 1,095 (21.9%) out of 5,004 Collation Agents in Kogi State have been uploaded, for a total of only 25,1%.
On Tuesday, October 10, 2023, at 12:00 a.m., Olumekun notified the political parties that the portal will close without further action on their side.
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