Reps ask INEC to delete names of nonvoters from register

The House of Representatives on Thursday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to clean up the voter’s register.

This followed the adoption of a motion by Leke Abejide (ADC-Kogi) during plenary.

Moving the motion, Mr Abejide alleged that the register was full of names of dead people.

He said that the 2023 general elections revealed that names of people that were long dead were still in the voter’s register.

“Even the name of my own deceased father who passed on long ago was still on display on the board.

“Apart from dead voters, there are millions of fictitious voters who do not exist anywhere on this planet earth but have their names on INEC registered voters.

“It is believed that this was as a result of multiple registration by Nigerians who had or have intention of rigging elections.

“However, with the advent of Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) these faceless individuals can no longer vote,” he said.

Ben Igbakpa (PDP-Delta) also alleged that palm kernels were used to thumbprint during registration and voting.

He claimed that such fictitious registrations contributed to the state of the voter register.

The lawmakers recommended that names of individuals who didn’t vote in two election cycles back to back should be deleted from the register, while they should be made to register again in future elections.

In his ruling, Deputy Speaker Ahmed Wase mandated the House Committee on Electoral Matters to ensure compliance. 

(NAN)