Today, Nigeria is on the cusp of history as the electorate decides who becomes President Muhammadu Buhari’s successor.
Whoever wins will step in the saddle on May 29, 2023, when the tenure of the incumbent president expires.
Today’s poll will take place in 176, 846 minus the 240 polling units, which the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said would not witness election because nobody registered there to vote. So, the parties need not arrange coverage by polling agents.
The Independent National Electoral Commission announced that a total of 1,574,301 polling unit agents would take part in the exercise, out of which the PDP accounted for 176,588 agents.
INEC made the total figure and breakdown of each party’s figures known in a report released last Monday, entitled, “Summary of Polling Unit and Collation Centre agents submitted by political parties submitted for the general 2023.”
The electoral body also indicated that a total of 68,057 would participate in the general elections as collation agents for the respective political parties.
According to INEC, the polling and collation agents were nominated by the 18 political parties as their representatives in the 2023 elections.
A breakdown of the report showed that the New Nigerian Peoples Party (NNPP) has 176,200 agents, Labour party, 134,874 agents; Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), 176,588 agents; All Progressives Congress (APC), 176,223 agents; while other 14 political parties have a total number of 910,426 agents.
The report also showed that a total number 68,057 would also participate in the elections as collation agents in the registration area/ward, local government, and state.
Further breakdown, according to the report, showed that NNPP had 9,604; LP 4,859; PDP 9,539; APC 9,581, while the other 14 political parties had 34,474 as collation officers.
The INEC report also showed that 27 people would serve as agents at the National Collation Centre.
The ruling APC has two, same as PDP and LP, while NNPP has one and the other 14 political parties have 20 agents.
THE CONCLAVE reports that the agents would represent the interest of their parties and presidential candidates during the voting, vote sorting, collation, counting, and announcement of results. They will be required to sign the result sheets thereafter in validation of the conclusiveness of the process as witnessed by them.
Presidential candidates whose parties made adequate arrangements to deploy polling agents are Atiku Abubakar (PDP), Bola Tinubu (APC), Peter Obi (LP) and Rabiu Kwankwaso (NNPP).
About 87.2 million voters who had collected their Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, are expected to participate in the election amid security arrangements emplaced by the nation’s security agencies.
A massive turnout of voters is expected to characterise the exercise, given the agitations for change and national redemption.
At the close of voting, the percentage turnout of voters would be known.
Historically, voter apathy and low turnout had characterised previous presidential and national assembly polls.
It is expected that today’s exercise will be signposted by a higher or much significant turnout of voters countrywide.
And, if there are no fundamental glitches, the final result of the presidential poll should be announced between Monday and Tuesday nights.
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