The Independent National Electoral Commission on Monday said it had uncovered over 93,000 fake voters in Anambra State, ahead of the November 16 governorship poll in the state.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, said this in Abuja at an interactive session with media professionals and civil society organisations on voter register optimisation.
According to him, the figure represents 5.6 per cent of the voting population in the state.
He said, “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 offenders, he added, would face prosecution as the commission was collaborating with the Nigeria Bar Association to bring the culprits to book.
Jega also said the commission was putting in place fresh measures to check the incidence of multiple registrations as witnessed during the 2011 general elections.
He added, “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.
The INEC boss also explained that there was no 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.”
On the recent court ruling, which nullified INEC’s de-registration of 28 political parties, he said the commission would soon appeal the judgment.
He explained, “The laws are very clear under what conditions to register and deregister political parties. People are forgetting that we have three other court judgments thrown away by the courts.
“We will appeal the case and our lawyers are working on it. It is unfair to say that the court upturned our decision. We did the right thing and we are appealing that judgment.”
Read more: Nigerian Eye
I congratulate INEC for exposing such fraud in Voter register. I will encourage them to do more so that our dream of free and fair elections will be realized soon. Anambra is a test case for INEC, we are keenly watching. Keep up and work hard Prof Attahiru, for we know the stuff you are made of. May God help you and your to get it right Electorally. – Cyprian Nwankwo.