Nigeria, Feb. 5 -- One of the realities of Nigeria is that every administrative decision or process is read and understood as being political. Currently, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is once again trying to update its polling units, after previous attempts failed. Each earlier attempt was sabotaged by controversies, with politicians from each State, zone and region staking claims that there should have been more of the new polling units created on the principle of "equal sharing." When they perceive that they might be "short-changed", they quickly develop conspiracy theories to discredit the effort. The underlying utility of the exercise never succeeds in getting a voice.
Polling units are central to the electoral p...