INEC Exonerates Kano on Underage Voters as Ohaneze Youths Want Commission Chairman Sacked
Chairman of Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) facts finding committee, Abubakar Nahuce, on Friday, exonerated the Kano State Independent Electoral Commission (KANSIEC) from the allegation of underage voting during the last local government elections.
This is as the Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council worldwide on Friday demanded for the immediate removal of the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Alhaji Mahmood Yakubu over the handling of the issue of under-aged voters in Kano state.
The fact finding team said it had not discovered any evidence of underage voting.
Nahuce said in Friday that from their interaction with civil society Organisations and media, none presented evidence of underage voting.
“From all what we have seen and discussed with you media men, none of you has seen any underage voter in the line or voting,” he submitted.
Nahuce, the leader of the team who is also the INEC National Commissioner for Kano, Jigawa and Yobe states said they had not discovered any anomaly in terms of underage as INEC was not investigating any other thing outside the turnout and the conduct of the election.
“All we have seen is that of the social media which is allegation of pictures and videos that are not verifiable, some of them are not even in Nigeria, some are from Kenya elections which people are attributing to Nigeria,” Nahuce claimed.
He assured that the team would write its report and submit to INEC headquarters for further action.
It could be recalled that INEC set up the committee following public outcry that greeted videos and photos of underage voting believed to be during the Kano election...
The Ohaneze Youths alleged that the INEC chairman had already by his conducts, shown his bias and incompetence in conducting credible elections by 2019.
In a statement signed by Mazi Okechukwu Isiguzoro, National President Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council worldwide, the body also rejected the report of the committee set up by the INEC chairman, led by one Abubakar Nahuce in which it was noted that there was no evidence of under aged voters in Kano.
They insisted that the report was false and misleading, stressing that it did not reflect the real situation on ground. The body threatened to initiate legal action against INEC.
The release further revealed that the Council had directed its legal Adviser to immediately institute a legal process against INEC to "tender overwhelming evidence to prove beyond all reasonable doubt that we have enough evidence of under aged voters in Kano council elections.
"We'll also prove that the leadership of INEC is biased and incompetent to organise a free and fair election in 2019. This report of INEC denying that there's no evidence of under aged voters in Kano is a confirmation that there's no hope of conducting a free and fair election in 2019.
"Since INEC sees ‘No evil, Hears no evil’ in Kano, Ohanaeze Youths promise them, there will be under aged voting in South east in 2019... where the problem of 2019 will start will be if INEC refuses to register our under aged voters in the south east and South/South, or allow them to vote in 2019".
The Council therefore called on the United Nation, Africa Union, ECOWAS and National Assembly to prevail on the federal government to overhaul INEC by removing the Chairman because "he is compromised, and not credible to conduct 2019 or any attempt to resist under aged voting in the south east and south/South will mar 2019 election".