The fidelity of the outcome of last Saturday’s local government elections in Kano State is now in question, following the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to dissociate itself from incidences of underage voting, which was allegedly a prominent feature in the exercise.
According to Oluwole Uzzi, Director, INEC Voter Education and Publicity, “the attention of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has been drawn to videos and pictures purportedly showing some underaged thumb printing ballot papers in a recent election. These images have been circulating online since Saturday.
“The INEC wishes to inform the public that the images do not relate in any way to any election organised, conducted or superintended by INEC.
“As far as the INEC can ascertain, they relate to a local government election conducted at the weekend, and over which we have no legal control or responsibility whatsoever.”
However, INEC usually provides national voters’ register to State Independent Electoral Commission, SIEC, for local council elections.
The state electoral commissions are, therefore, expected to accredit only those voters in INEC register.