FEC summons INEC chair over voters’ registration

The Federal Executive Council yesterday invited the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, on the ongoing voters’ registration exercise.

Information Minister Lai Mohammed stated this while briefing State House correspondents on the outcome of the FEC meeting chaired by Acting President Yemi Osinbajo. The minister said: “We invited the chairman of INEC to address council on the ongoing voters registration and to let us know the challenges he is facing and the import of the exercise.

“I think the council was very satisfied with the presentation. First, he made it known that this is the first time we are going to have a real continuous voters registration; not the one that comes on before election or registration that goes on only in some parts of the country.

‘He also explained why it is not possible for the exercise to be conducted on pooling unit basis because we have about 119,000 plus polling units. We need a minimum of five personnel to man each unit and the cost cannot be accommodated by their budget.

“Of course, the next preferred option would have been to take it to the local governments which again, because of paucity of funds, they could not accommodate. That’s why they are doing it at the local government basis. But the important thing is that it is continuous. It will go on for the next 90 days and then continue for another 90 days,” he said.