The National Democratic Congress (NDC) says it is building a 13-man executive structure in every polling unit across Nigeria as part of its preparations for the 2027 general elections.
The party said the move is aimed at strengthening its grassroots presence and ensuring that it has adequate representation at polling units during the elections.
Senator Victor Umeh, who represents Anambra Central, disclosed the development during an interview with ARISE NEWS on Friday.
According to Umeh, the 13-member polling-unit structure is provided for in the party’s constitution and is designed to ensure that the NDC has officials on the ground to manage its interests during voting and the collation of results.
NDC Targets Every Polling Unit
Umeh said the party was working to replicate the structure across the country ahead of the 2027 elections.
He explained that each polling unit would have 13 executives dedicated to electoral duties, describing them as the party’s polling booth executives.
“Every polling unit will have 13-man executives in that polling unit,” Umeh said.
The senator added that the party was also separately making arrangements to ensure it had polling agents across Nigeria.
He said the growing number of people seeking to contest elections on the NDC platform would help the party establish a presence at polling units nationwide.
“We are aware of the need to have agents in every polling unit in Nigeria. And thank God, our party has become very appealing to the Nigerian public,” he said.
Candidates to Drive Grassroots Mobilisation
Umeh said candidates contesting the 2027 elections would play a key role in expanding the NDC’s presence at the grassroots.
According to him, a political party that fields candidates across constituencies is more likely to have representatives at polling units because the candidates can mobilise agents for the elections.
He noted that the situation would be different in areas where a party has no candidates, as such a party could struggle to maintain an effective presence at polling units.
“The thing is very simple. If a party is present in all the constituencies in Nigeria, with candidates contesting the elections, the party will be closer to the polling units,” he said.
Umeh further disclosed that the NDC had fielded candidates for all positions being contested in the 2027 general elections.
Beyond the party’s constitutional 13-man structure, Umeh said he was personally establishing an additional layer of coordinators in each polling unit.
The senator said he was putting together a 20-man coordinator structure in every polling unit to complement the existing party executives.
He explained that the additional structure would make it easier to recruit and organise polling agents before election day.
“Apart from the 13-man polling-unit executives the party has in its constitution, I, as a candidate, am also building a 20-man coordinator in every polling unit,” Umeh said.
According to him, the objective is to avoid a situation where the party would have to rush to find representatives when election day arrives.
NDC Prepares for Polling-Unit Results
Umeh also said the party was preparing early to ensure its agents could obtain copies of polling-unit results on election day.
He recalled his participation as a senator in the Electoral Act amendment process, particularly the debate surrounding the electronic transmission of election results.
The lawmaker said developments surrounding result transmission had made it important for political parties to maintain strong representation at polling units.
He said the NDC was therefore preparing its agents to obtain the EC8A series from polling units.
According to Umeh, the party wants its representatives to be in possession of polling-unit results duly signed by presiding officers.
We have enough time to prepare for this, and we are doing it, he said.
Umeh expressed confidence that the party’s preparations would enable it to maintain agents across polling units nationwide during the 2027 elections.
He said the combination of the party’s 13-man executive structure, candidates and additional coordinators would strengthen its grassroots election machinery.
The senator assured that the NDC was working towards ensuring that no polling unit would be left without the party’s representation on election day.
He said, On the day of election
