Professor Attahiru Jega
Nigeria’s electoral powerhouse, the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, yesterday announced the discovery of over 93,000 fake voters in Anambra State, ahead of the November 16 governorship poll in the state.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, gave this shocking revelation in Abuja at an interactive session with media professionals and civil society organisations.
Jega said the figure represents 5.6 per cent of the voting population in the state.
His words, “The INEC has identified 93,000 cases of ghost voters in Anambra State, which represents 5.6 per cent of the voting population in the state. We are commencing the prosecution of those involved.”
The INEC boss vowed that offenders would face the law as INEC was collaborating with the Nigeria Bar Association to bring culprits to book.
Jega added that the Commission would ensure that cases of multiple registrations as witnessed during the 2011 general elections were avoided.
He said, “We have started working; I can tell you that before 2011 elections, we were not able to cross-check to know if there were cases of multiple registrations. We have identified more than 800,000 multiple registers.
“We have prosecuted over 200 people involved in electoral malpractices. It is an enormous work. We have a small legal unit. We are getting to a point where we will collaborate with NBA so that more people will be prosecuted.”
Speaking further, Jega dismissed the report that there was confusion in the Anambra State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party over its leadership.
He said, “As far as INEC is concerned, there is no confusion as to who is the PDP chairman. There is no court order stopping us from recognising the current leadership of the state chapter of the PDP. Any other person that parades himself as the chairman will be prosecuted.”
Jega said the Commission would soon appeal the recent nullification of INEC’s deregistration of 28 political parties by the court.
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