The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has removed from its list the names of 2,500 registered voters that died before the next general elections in Yobe state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Yobe state, Alhaji Makama stated this on Tuesday at an interactive session with religious leaders in Damaturu.
He said, prior to the removal of the deceased names, registered voters lists have been displayed in the 1,718 polling units of the state for people to identify names of the deceased, underage and foreigners before removal.
“It’s our duty to remove those names, but before that, those who identified them were given forms to fill and signed before the affected names were removed,” he added.
The commissioner said the meeting was aimed at briefing the religious leaders on the INEC arrangements to generate ideas and solicit their supports ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
He complained that the over 100,000 PVCs are still laying in their various local government offices uncollected, while appealing to the religious leaders to encourage their followers to collect.
He called on the traditional rulers to preach to people against hate speech, while commending the politicians that campaigns are conducted peacefully so far across the state.
The representative of JIBWIS, Malam Ibrahim Damaturu, observed that the polling units in the state are inadequate, and may affect voting by prospective voters across the state.
He also lamented that politicians are engaged in votes buying especially in areas where they felt unpopular in a particular zone of the state.
“We want the INEC to investigate this matter and take appropriate measure,” he said.
Pastor Musa Ezekiel, who represented the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), said they had embarked on sensitization campaigns in churches to ensure that voters carried out their civic right peacefully, devoid of any violence.
