2015: Igbo Group Raises Alarm Over INEC Plan To Disenfranchise Over 2m Eligible Voters In South East

2015Ahead of the 2015 general elections, the Ndigbo Unity Forum (NUF) worldwide, has alleged that there is a plan by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to disenfranchise over two million eligible voters in the South-East geo-political zone.

The group, in a statement on Thursday, accused INEC of planning to realise the objective through alleged inefficiency of its members of staff in the ongoing permanent voter registration exercise.

The statement read in part: “After an emergency session held on August 28, 2014, the following observations were noticed in the ongoing voter registration exercise. They include that there are numerous complaints by South East residents that INEC staff involved in the conduct of voter registration exercise were not enough, that the few INEC staff present displayed nonchalant attitude towards their duty and that most of the machines used for the exercise always breakdown.

“We call on INEC to start the process of registration and collection of permanent voter cards afresh, so that eligible voters that were denied the chance of registration and collection of permanent voter cards through INEC’s inefficiency could procure their voter cards”.

The NUF also charged the INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, to ensure that the commission’s staff involved in the exercise were adequately supervised to ensure that they serve the people efficiently.

The group also called on Ndigbo in the five states of the South East, who have not collected their permanent voter cards due to INEC’s alleged inefficiency, to exercise patience and ensure that they are duly registered and given the voter cards.