Claim: WhatsApp message alleged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is moving people to other polling units to disenfranchise them.
Verdict: FALSE. Although the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, is allotting new polling units to people in the same area where they registered, the purpose is to reduce congestion at overpopulated polling units. It is not to disenfranchise the electorate.
Full Text
A viral WhatsApp message claims the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is moving voters to different polling units.
The message cautions registered voters and states the possession of a permanent voter card (PVC) was not enough guarantee to vote.
“Having a PVC is no longer a guarantee that you will vote. If your name has been migrated to another PU from where you’ve been used to (even if you did not request a change of location) in line with the above reason, you may not be allowed to vote there on voting day,” part of the message reads.
Registered voters were asked to follow a link provided to check their polling unit.
Verification
The total number of polling units were increased to 176,974 after INEC created an additional 56,872 Polling Units in June 2021 to accommodate the increasing numbers of registered voters.
INEC’s Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, in Kwara State, Adamu Musa, explained that the Commission, in line with Section 40 (2) of the Electoral Act 2022, decided to move some registered voters from polling units with registered voters above 750 to other units with fewer numbers.
He added that some voters are being moved to the polling units within the same constituency as the previous ones.
Musa stated that the measure will not disenfranchise affected registered voters as they will be duly informed and directed to the new polling units where their names were moved to.
He explained further that the list of names of the affected registered voters would be pasted at the wards to enable them confirm their polling units before Election Day. Musa added that there would be adequate publicity in the media to ensure that the information reaches the persons concerned and other stakeholders.
This was also confirmed in a post by INEC on its verified Twitter handle, assuring affected registered voters that its State Offices will duly inform them on the polling units assigned to them.
DUBAWA also verified the link in the message and found it original to INEC, as voters can use this to confirm their polling unit.
Conclusion
Our verification revealed that although the Independent National Electoral Commission is allotting new polling units to some electorates, it is not to disenfranchise them but to ensure that the newly created polling units do not record zero votes and overcrowding is avoided on Election Day.
The researcher produced this fact-check per the DUBAWA 2023 Kwame Karikari Fellowship partnership with Harmony FM to facilitate the ethos of “truth” in journalism and enhance media literacy in the country.
