Catholic bishops tell INEC, FG to tackle underage registration

Catholic Bishops in Nigeria under the aegis of Catholic Bishops Conference of Nigeria (CBCN) Friday asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the federal government to tackle reported alleged cases of underage registration by officials of the commission.

The CBCN, in a communique issued at the end of its first plenary meeting of the year in Abuja, but made available to our correspondent in Ado Ekiti on Friday by the Bishop of Ekiti diocese, Most Rev Felix Ajakaye, decried reports that some eligible Nigerians were unable to register to vote due to lack of facilities.

The communique signed by the Archbishop of Jos, Most Reverend Ignatius Ayau Kaigama (President) and the Bishop of Ikot-Ekpene, Most Reverend Camillus Raymond Umoh, Assistant Secretary, CBCN said: "We hear of the registration of under aged persons. It is quite unfortunate that our young people allow themselves to be used as canon fodders in electoral malpractices.

"Government and especially INEC, should address these serious lapses with utmost urgency and without discrimination and bias."

While urging the INEC to tackle the inability of some eligible Nigerians to get registered, the clerics said they learnt that the problem was pronounced in certain parts of the country.

The communique added : "Reports reaching us from all over the nation indicate that in many places facilities for registration are not available, thus depriving many people of the right to register for voting. It is equally reported that such difficulty in registration often target certain segments of the community."

The bishops, while lamenting what they called "political assassinations, killing for ritual purposes and frequent mass murder of harmless, innocent and defenseless citizens," said recent events in the country gave cause for serious concern

"Very often our young people, the very symbols of life and vigour, are the victims and agents of this wastage of human life. In recognition of our divine mandate, may we remind all of the sacredness and inviolability of human life. No person, authority or institution has the right to terminate human life.

The clerics expressed gratitude to President Muhammadu Buhari for a recent audience he granted them at the presidential villa in Abuja, saying "while we thank him for giving us a listening ear, we expect him to urgently address the issues raised, as he promised he would."