No fewer than 23 staff members of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Kwara State are facing sanctions for their involvement in illegal voters’ registration in the state.
Garba Attahiru Madami, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, revealed this in Ilorin at a stakeholders’ meeting with members of registered political parties contesting the 2023 general elections, as well as security agencies, adding that the current total voting population of Kwara State is 1.6million.
He bemoaned the poor response of the people of the state to the collection of permanent voter cards, stating that the commission had 233,856 uncollected voter cards from 2011 to 2019.
Madami explained that, of the total number of uncollected voter cards, only 20,752 had been collected as of October 2022, leaving over 193,000 uncollected.
He explained that the stakeholders’ meeting was necessary as the first step toward ensuring that the State’s elections run smoothly next year.
Madami vowed to safeguard the electoral process by holding elections that are free, fair, transparent, peaceful, and credible in the eyes of Kwara residents.
In his remarks, the State Police Commissioner, Paul Odama, warned politicians against vote buying, which was prohibited by the electoral law.
He advised them to engage in issue-based campaigns, avoid thuggery, and damage to opposing political party billboards.
Odama also cautioned politicians to desist from feeding their supporters with hard drugs to guarantee violence free campaigns and elections in the state.
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