NIGERIAN ELECTION COMMISSION ACCUSED OF REGISTERING FOREIGNERS TO VOTE IN 2019 – Southern, Middlle Belt leaders
The Southern and Middle Belt Leaders’ Forum has
raised the alarm that the Independent National Electoral Commission
has embarked on the registration of foreigners, especially from
Niger Republic, to pave the way for electoral malpractices in 2019.
The forum, which
stated this in a communiqué made available to journalists on
Sunday, alleged that registration of foreigners could be one of the
reasons why the Federal Government was in a haste to construct a rail from
Kano, through Dambatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi, Katsina, Jibia and terminate in
Maradi in the Niger Republic.
The leaders from the
Middle Belt, South-South, South-East and South-West had met in Lagos on
Friday and issued the communiqué titled, “Our case against 2019 elections
preparations” on Sunday.
The communiqué was
signed by Yinka Odumakin (South-West); Senator Bassey Henshaw
(South-South); Prof. Chigozie Ogbu (South-East) and Dr Isuwa Dogo (
Middle Belt).
The leaders, who
expressed concern about the 2019 general elections, restated their
demand for the suspension of the current Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud
Yakubu, pending the investigation of the underage voter scandal in Kano.
They restated their
lack of confidence in the INEC chairman “whose conduct over the scandal of
underage voters in Kano has shown a gross betrayal of public trust.”
The
leaders alleged that intelligence report at their disposal had shown
that INEC was registering Nigeriens and other foreigners for the purpose of
voting in the 2019 elections.
They stated, “Equally
worrisome is the intelligence report at our disposal that a large number of
mercenary voters have been registered from neighbouring countries
especially from Niger Republic under the continuous voter registration which
could have been one of the reasons why the Federal Government is in a
haste to construct a rail from Kano, through Dambatta, Kazaure, Daura, Mashi,
Katsina, Jibia and terminate in Maradi, Niger Republic. Money has been
appropriated for this in the 2018 budget
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