Updated: INEC presents report on underage voting in Kano, absolves self of complicity

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has presented the report of its investigation into the allegation of its complicity on the issue of underage voting during the February 10 local government election in Kano state even as it absolved itself of any involvement in the issue.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, made the outcome of the investigation public during a press conference in Abuja on Friday. He said that based on the terms of reference of the Abubakar Nahuche-led Committee, and given the fact that the INEC Voter Register was given to the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC), which was not substantially used   during the voting process, “it is logical to conclude that if underage voting occurred in the election, it was not due to any presence of underage registrants on the Voter Register.”

INEC, which accepted the report, admitted that the Voter Register was only sighted in few polling units which meant that the Register was not used during the election, adding that accreditation using the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) largely did not take place during the Kano local election.

Mahmood said further that after examining some of the images in circulation, the committee found that they have been available long before the Kano Local Government Elections, stressing that the few images and video clips from Kano show no accreditation of voters or any relationship with the Register of Voters

“You would recall that following the Kano State Local Government election held on 10th February 2018, there were several reports in the media, particularly the social media, alleging that underage persons voted in the election. Both explicit and implicit in some of these reports was the suggestion that since the National Register of Voters compiled by INEC was used in the election, the alleged problem of underage voting in the Kano Local Government election is linked to a prevalence of underage registrants in the National Register of Voters.

“I must note that till date, not a single formal complaint on this matter has been received by the Commission. Rather, some stakeholders, including a political party, have taken to the media to criticize INEC and in some cases to impugn the integrity of the National Register of Voters.

“For the avoidance of doubt, let me emphasize first, that INEC was not in any way involved in organizing the Kano State Local Government election beyond the legal requirement that the register of voters compiled by INEC should be used in all Local Government elections nationwide. The conduct of that election was entirely the responsibility of KANSIEC,” he said.

The INEC boss added that the investigation committee was not established to inquire into the general conduct of the Kano State Local Government election or to inquire into the organization or challenges of KANSIEC. He pointed out that INEC has no legal remit to do so. Rather, as the Terms of Reference of the Committee show, INEC’s role was strictly to inquire into claims linking the register of voters compiled by INEC and the alleged incidents of underage voting in the election.

He called for more collaboration between INEC and all stakeholders to continue to update and improve the National Register of Voters to eliminate all ineligible registrants from it, including dead persons, aliens and underage registrants. He added that INEC would work with the State Independent Electoral Commissions (SIECs), Nigeria Immigration Service, the media and Civil Society Organisations (CSOs) to ensure continuous improvements in the quality of all elections conducted in Nigeria.

He said that the commission had since 2011 largely corrected the errors of the past and made the Voter Register very dependable although not perfect adding that the commission has increased the number new registration by over three million voters from the 68.8 million it inherited from the former commission in 2015 bringing the total so far to over 70 million registrants.

“From April 2017 when we commenced the CVR to December of the same year, some 3,981,502 new registrants were recorded, including figures from Anambra State Governorship election held in November 2017. This figure represents the first major additions to the Register since this Commission came on board. Even so, except for the 190,767 new registrants added to the voter register in Anambra State, the new registrants are just about to be added to the national Register.

He however noted that under the present INEC, only 432,233 new registrants have been added to our national Voter Register, which represents 0.9% increase on the Register used for the 2015 general elections. These additions came essentially from CVR in 2015 and 2016 in States where INEC conducted off-season Governorship elections namely; Bayelsa, Kogi, Edo and Ondo as well as the FTC Area Council elections.

He informed the public to seize the opportunity to register and collect their PVC since by law the CVR will end not later than 60 days to the forthcoming general elections on 16th February 2019.