The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) penultimate week
released a statement accusing the Governor of Kogi State, Alhaji Yahaya
Bello of registering a second time in the ongoing Continuous Voter
Registration (CVR) exercise, an action that violates the provisions of
Nigeria’s electoral law.
Section 12(2) of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) stipulates that
“A person shall not register in more than one registration center or
register more than once in the same registration center.” Section 12(3)
further provides that any person who acts contrary to subsection (2)
“commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a fine not exceeding
N100, 000 or imprisonment for a term not exceeding one year or both.”
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Voters Education
Committee, Solomon Soyebi, in the statement he issued, said: “It has
come to the attention of INEC that Kogi State Governor Yahaya Bello
registered as a voter for the second time on Tuesday May 23, at
Government House in Lokoja. His first registration was on January 30,
2011, in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja. The governor’s double registration, and
doing so outside lNEC’s designated centres, are both illegal.” Soyebi
stated that the electoral body cannot prosecute Bello while in office
due to the immunity granted him by the Constitution. He added that
disciplinary action would be taken against the INEC staff involved in
the perpetration of the illegal registration.
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