In the lead-up to Nigeria’s upcoming presidential election, four of the major political parties have deployed over 660,000 party polling unit agents across the country.
The ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), the opposition Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), the Labour Party, and the New Nigeria Peoples Party (NNPP) have all submitted their agents to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for the exercise.
According to INEC, a total of 1,574,301 party polling unit agents and 68,057 collation agents were submitted by political parties in Nigeria. The APC deployed 176,223 party polling unit agents, while the PDP deployed 176,558. The Labour Party had 134,874 party polling unit agents, and the NNPP had 176,200.
Kano State had the highest number of party polling unit agents with 145,393, followed by Lagos with 98,646 and Rivers with 79,795. The polling agents will be stationed at polling units across the country to observe and monitor the voting process.
With the deployment of such a large number of polling agents, the parties hope to ensure that the election is free, fair and transparent. The agents are expected to report any incidents of violence or malpractice, and to ensure that the votes are counted accurately.
The election is scheduled for Saturday, February 25, and the deployment of such a large number of polling agents is an indication of the importance the parties place on the exercise. It remains to be seen how the agents will affect the outcome of the election, but their presence is expected to provide greater transparency and accountability in the process.
