The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has attributed the reported addition of 453 polling units across the country to a court ruling that established new constituencies in Kogi, Benue and Delta states.

The commission said the changes were necessary to reflect the newly created constituencies, dismissing concerns that it had secretly expanded Nigeria’s polling units ahead of the 2027 general elections.

INEC’s Deputy Director of Information and Publicity, Wilfred Osilama Ifogah, disclosed this during an interview with Trust TV on Wednesday.

INEC Yet to Confirm Reported Figures

Ifogah explained that the exercise was still undergoing internal review, adding that the commission would brief electoral stakeholders after completing the necessary processes.

He said the creation of new constituencies would have implications for the wards and polling units in the affected areas, which the commission needed to examine before making an official announcement.

The explanation followed reports that Nigeria’s polling units had increased from 176,846 to 177,299, representing an additional 453 units.

However, Ifogah did not confirm the reported figure or provide a breakdown of the additional polling units across the three states.

He also denied that the exercise was being conducted secretly, suggesting that information about the changes might have become public before INEC was ready to announce them.

INEC Distinguishes Exercise From 2020 Expansion

Ifogah said the current exercise was different from the polling unit expansion carried out in 2020.

During the earlier exercise, INEC converted existing voting points into independent polling units to reduce congestion and improve access to voting locations.

Although the initiative was intended to make voting easier, some voters later complained about being moved to different polling locations.

The commission maintained at the time that the new locations were not too far from voters’ previous polling units.

Questions Over Voter Register

The development comes amid scrutiny of INEC’s preparations for the 2027 general elections, including concerns over suspicious photographs and questionable entries in its preliminary Register of Voters.

The commission had earlier acknowledged concerns about photographs suspected to have been generated using artificial intelligence.

In a statement issued on October 27, INEC said it was reviewing the affected records and investigating possible technical or procedural lapses.

The statement was signed by Mohammed Kudu Haruna, Chairman of the commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee.

INEC has yet to release full details of the reported polling unit changes, including their locations and the procedures used to establish them.