Underage Voting: INEC Says Kano SIEC didn’t Use its Register
The Independent National Electoral Commission says the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission which organised the controversial local government poll in February didn’t completely use INEC’s voters’ register.
Underaged voters in Kano
The Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmoud Yakubu, said this at a press conference in Abuja on Friday.
INEC had in March set up a committee to investigate underage voting in the Kano State local government election in which the All Progressives Congress won in the 44 local governments.
The committee was set up after pictures of children voting in the election surfaced on social media, speaking outrage among Nigerians and the opposition Peoples Democratic Party.
Explaining the outcome of the investigation, Yakubu said the commission had given the Kano State electoral umpire its own (INEC’s) register to use in undertaking the election.
However, investigations by the committee showed that in most polling units, INEC’s register wasn’t used.
Yakubu, however, said most of the pictures circulating on the social media were old photos which were not connected to the recent election.
The INEC boss, however, said the commission did not have the powers to investigate the conduct of local government elections in any state.