Police arrest INEC officials who moved registration centre to church

The Lagos State Police Command has arrested two officials working for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for carrying out voter registration at an unauthorised centre.

The INEC officials, identified as Mr Ikechukwu Izuchukwu and Miss Agbokhna Ebigun, were arrested for moving the registration from an approved centre to a church in the Ijeshatedo area of Surulere, Lagos State.

Spokesman of the Lagos State Police Command, SP Benjamin Hundeyin, confirmed the arrest in a series of tweets on Friday, July 29, 2022.

Hundeyin revealed that the officials were caught within the church premises conducting registration for members.

He said, “The INEC officials were assigned to Imam Thanni Street by House 9A for today’s exercise. They were, however, found within the church premises. Residents raised concerns and informed the police. The DPO Ijeshatedo swung into action and brought the INEC officials to the station.

“Preliminary findings show that a resident of the area who volunteered to transport the officials from their office to the center was responsible for the mix-up, deliberate or not, further investigation will reveal. Meanwhile, the officials were immediately released to proceed to the correct center to continue their assignment.”

Pulse had earlier reported that hoodlums had disrupted the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration, CVR, exercise at St. Bridget Catholic Church in Ijesha, Surulere.

The hoodlums allegedly carted away machines used for the CVR exercise.

Meanwhile, reacting to the development, INEC’s Public Relations Officer in Lagos state, Mrs Adenike Oriowo told NAN that though the exercise was disrupted, no machine was stolen.

“There were issues in the said CVR centre but orderliness was restored and the exercise continued smoothly. We have moved the registration in that centre to another polling unit in the area, and our officials have continued with the registration.

“People should be patient. We shall register as many people as possible. If people continue to disrupt the process, the opportunity to register more people before the deadline will be interrupted. Our commitment is to register as many people as possible and we will try to do so within the limited time,” the INEC spokesperson said.

Pulse reports that INEC has fixed Sunday, July 31, 2022, as the deadline for the CVR exercise.