To take the delimitation of constituencies exercise a notch further, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has awarded a contract to a firm to produce a Map of Registration Areas.
The map will enable local and international observers to identify and locate boundaries of Constituencies, Registration Areas/Wards, including Polling Units in the Federation.
This was disclosed last week Friday by the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, at a one-day seminar on “Dispute Resolution In Constituency Delimitation – The Role of Electoral Alternative Dispute Resolution” organized by the ADR Directorate.
Professor Jega also announced that thus far, the Commission was at the collaborative phase of its preparations for delimitation of electoral constituencies.
He listed government agencies/commissions which the Commission was collaborating with as the:
• National Boundary Commission (NBC);
• Office of the Surveyor-General of the Federation (OSGOF);
• National Population Commission (NPC);
• Nigerian Postal Service (NIPOST); and
• National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA).
He added that INEC had exchanged Memorandum of Understanding (M.O.U.) with the agencies/commissions in order to strengthen these collaborations.
Challenges which are likely to confront the delimitation exercise were identified and the Resource Person, Professor Kevin Nwosu, was invited to address them using Alternative dispute Resolution methods.
In her vote of thanks, the Director, ADR Ngozi Irene Oghuma said the mission of her Directorate was to ensure that disputes arising from the electoral processes were settled amicably and devoid of rancor.