Alphonsus Nweze
The International Society for Civil Liberties and Rule of Law (Intersociety) has faulted the Chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmud Yakubu over his announcement in far away United States of America (USA), that the commission has yanked off 2.7m voters from the country’s register of voters.
Yakubu who made the announcement Tuesday while addressing human right community in USA said those who were removed from the Voter’s register were those who allegedly double-registered.
But speaking to the Prime Pointers News Online on telephone interview, the Chairman of Board of Trustees (BoT) of Intersociety, Nze Emeka Umeagbalasi, lamented that the latest removal of 2.7 registered voters was one of the many steps by Mahmud led INEC to reduce to insignificance the about 20m latest registration by young Nigerians, saying that INEC had earlier removed about 9.3m voters from its register based on various flimsy reasons.
He said: “how can Prof. Yakubu convince Nigerians that these number of voters truly double registered.”
He lamented that there is no checks and balances to guide INEC ‘s activities.
“Nobody questions INEC activities. They do what they like.Everything INEC does is right. You cannot interrogate them. They can disenfranchise an entire people without anybody questioning them. How can anybody authenticate the veracity of INEC’s claim that 2.7 million voters removed from national Voters’ register double registered,” said Umeagbalasi.
Unfortunately, he said, Prof. Yakubu did not tell the world how many underaged voters, Fulani migrants, and ghost names were found in their register.
“Rather, he was busy destroying the names of eligible Nigerian voters in an attempt to prepare ground to compromise the integrity of the 2023 general election. Mahmud lied to international community,” he quipped.
The Intersociety boss who said he is coming out with comprehensive response to Mahmud’s attempt to hoodwink the world and compromise the election challenged him to tell the same international community how many Permanent Voter’s Register (PVC) have been collected by Nigerians who registered recently.
“He should tell them also the modalities to distribute PVC seamlessly to Nigerians, not trying to destroy Nigerian democracy.”
Umeagbalasi described as elementary the announcement of the removal of 2.7m voters who he claimed double registered to people who are grand masters in Information Technology, stressing that even if what he said was true, there is no big deal in it as it is supposed to be a routine office work if they are sincere.
“The issue INEC should address squarely and urgently now is how Nigerians should collect their PVCs, remove the names of underaged voters and migrants from Nigeria’s register of voters,” he concluded.
