INEC talks tough, accuses Kogi gov of double registration

The Independent National Electoral Commission (NAN) has accused the Governor of Kogi State, Yahaya Bello of double registration for Permanent Voter Card against electoral law.
The commission disclosed this in a statement by Prince Solomon Soyebi, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC) on Thursday in Abuja.
INEC stated that Bello’s second registration was done on Tuesday May 23, in Government House, Lokoja, outside the designated centre for the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
“It has come to the attention of INEC that Governor Bello of Kogi State registered as a voter for the second time on Tuesday May 23, 2017 in Government House, Lokoja, the state capital.
“His first registration was on January 30, 2011 in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
“The Governor’s double registration and doing so outside INEC’s designated centres are both illegal.
“For the on-going Continuous Voter Registration [CVR) exercise, INEC has designated a centre in each of the country’s 774 Local Government Areas including FCT’s six Area Councils.’’
The commission, therefore, dissociated itself from the governor’s action while it also pledged to take disciplinary action against its staff who did the second registration for Bello.
“We wish to make it clear that no INEC staff was authorised by the Commission to re-register him or any Citizen or to do so outside our designated CVR centres.
“The Commission is taking disciplinary action against the INEC staff involved.
“As for the State Governor, Section 308 (l) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended], precludes INEC from prosecuting him while in office.
“However, the Commission wishes to state that it has cancelled his second and illegal registration forthwith.’’
It stated that the second registration would be cancelled as Electoral Law and the Commission’s guidelines make no exception for anyone to register more than once, and to register outside the designated centres.