As part of efforts to curb underage
voting, the Independent National Electoral Commission will on Wednesday
(today), hold a meeting with the 36 States’ Independent Electoral
Commissions.
In a statement on Wednesday, the Chief
Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Rotimi Oyekanmi, said, “You
are cordially invited to cover the courtesy visit of the Forum of State
Independent Electoral Commissions of Nigeria to INEC headquarters on
Wednesday, February 21, at 2pm.”
Although Oyekanmi did not state the
purpose of the meeting, INEC had last week claimed that elections in
which underage voters allegedly participated were not organized by INEC
but states’ electoral bodies.
The local government election in Kano
State which was won by the All Progressives Congress by a landslide was
said to have been marred by underage voting as pictures were circulated
on social media showing children between the ages of eight and 15
voting.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,
had last week announced that the commission would probe underage
voting, adding that a committee would be set up to look into the matter
and submit a report.
Sources within the commission told one
of our correspondents that a committee headed by a national
commissioner had been set up to look into the underage voting.
The source said the terms of reference and the method of investigation were still being worked out.
The source revealed that the committee
would also investigate why and how underage voters were being added to
the register handed to state electoral bodies by INEC.
The senior INEC official said, “The
meeting will center on underage voting and how the names of child voters
can be purged from the register.
“We will also be looking at how INEC and SIEC across the states can cooperate and work better together.”
Electoral bodies at state level have been accused of rigging elections for the party in power in most states.
Meanwhile, the national leadership of
the Peoples Democratic Party says it has lost confidence in the INEC
chairman’s capacity to conduct free, fair and credible elections in
2019.
It, therefore, said that Yakubu should quit and allow a new leadership to emerge.
The party said that it was sad that the
commission claimed that it registered underage voters in some states
like Kano and Katsina because of threats to the lives of its officials.
The National Publicity Secretary of the
party, Mr. Kola Ologbondiyan, who spoke at a press briefing in Abuja on
Tuesday, also accused the commission of embarking on illegal acts.
For example, Ologbondiyan said that it
was wrong for Yakubu to cede the power of the commission to monitor
political spending to the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
He said under the law, the anti-graft agency would be embarking on an illegal act if it takes on the assignment.
Ologbondiyan said, “As you are aware,
INEC has been indicted for registering and issuing permanent voter cards
to millions of underage persons, particularly in Kano and Katsina
states respectively.
“You are also aware that it took a press
statement from the PDP and concerted outcry by Nigerians before the
Prof. Mahmood Yakubu-led commission reluctantly accepted responsibility
for this illegality.
“However, INEC has refused to take
decisive steps to restore the sanctity of its register, particularly in
Kano and Katsina states, but has rather made a puerile explanation of
plans to investigate the allegation.
“As we speak, the credibility of our
electoral process under the current INEC is hugely in doubt. The nation
was last Wednesday terrified by the commission’s Director of Publicity
and Voter Education, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, who announced that INEC
registered minors because its agents were threatened by members of the
communities in those states.
“By this alarming and unpatriotic
statement, INEC under Prof. Mahmood Yakubu has completely discredited
and disqualified itself and cannot be trusted to conduct credible, free
and fair general elections in 2019.
“The import of this statement is that
INEC under Yakubu is not firm in its acts and will consequently cave in
and accept any form of irregularities once it is put under pressure by
members of a voting community.
“It goes to say that this INEC can
readily announce false results, cancel elections, alter polling
procedures and allow any irregularities during the 2019 general
elections once it is threatened by the All Progressives Congress or any
other group for that matter.”
In his response, the Chief Press
Secretary to the INEC chairman, Oyekanmi, called on concerned parties to
be patient as the INEC boss was working day and night to ensure that
the 2019 elections would be free, fair and credible.
Oyekanmi told one of our correspondents
that Yakubu had set up a committee comprising a national commissioner
and Resident Electoral Commissioners to investigate underage voter scam.
He said the committee would also visit
Kano and compare its register with the one used by the electoral
commission in Kano during the controversial local government election.
The spokesman said, “To the extent of
having a credible electoral system, we are on the same page with the PDP
and other Nigerians. We want a good system that is credible. You will
recall that the chairman announced the constitution of a committee to be
headed by a national commissioner and assisted by some RECs.
“Our officials from two departments –
voter registry and ICT – are also involved and the terms of reference
will include going to Kano to investigate what really happened. They
will also find out if the Kano State electoral management body actually
used INEC register and what kind of process they undertook.
“We believe after all the investigations, all the findings will be made public.”
While demanding an immediate review of
voter register, particularly in Kano and Katsina, Ologbondiyan also
demanded revalidating the voter register to eliminate all the minors and
insisted that no election must hold in these states until the registers
were sanitised.
No comments: