INEC rejects Kogi Governor's double voter registration, says it's illegal

The INEC national commissioner, and chairman, information and voter education committee (IVEC), Solomon Soyebi, said Bello registered twice - first on January 30, 2011 in Abuja while the second time was on May 23, 2017 at the government house, Lokoja.

Speaking in Abuja on Thursday, May 25, Soyebi vowed that the INEC staff who registered Bello the second time would be sanctioned.

He said the exercise was done outside the designated centre for the ongoing nationwide continuous voter registration (CVR).

A group, Kogi for Change, had first alarmed that Bello registered as a voter twice, and threatened to sue the Governor.

Soyebi said, "It has come to the attention of INEC that Gov Bello of Kogi state registered as a voter for the second time on Tuesday May 23, 2017 in Government House, Lokoja, the state capital,” Soyebi said.

"His first registration was on January 30, 2011 in Wuse zone 4, Abuja.

"The governor’s double registration and doing so outside lNEC’s designated centres are both illegal.

"For the on-going continuous voter registration [CVR) exercise, INEC has designated a centre in each of the country’s 774 local government areas including FCT’s six area councils.

"We wish to make it clear that no INEC staff was authorised by the commission to re-register him or any citizen or to do so outside our designated CVR centres.

"The commission is taking disciplinary action against the INEC staff involved.

"As for the state governor, section 308 (l) (a) of the 1999 constitution (as amended], precludes lNEC from prosecuting him while in office.

"However, the commission wishes to state that it has cancelled his second and illegal registration forthwith."

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The INEC official added that the commission's guidelines make no exception for anyone to register more than once, and to register outside the designated centres.

See screen shot of the copy of INEC's statement below: