Former Edo State Attorney General and Commissioner for Justice, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi, has questioned how 1.5 million questionable voter data entered the Independent National Electoral Commission’s register, saying such irregularities ought to not happen.
Speaking throughout an interview with Arise News on Thursday alongside YIAGA Africa Executive Director, Samson Itodo, Osaze-Uzzi stated know-how ought to make voter registration simpler to observe, significantly because the regulation clearly defines eligibility necessities.
“I don’t know how up to 1.5 million people or entries can be made in the register. You’ve heard of AI, you’ve heard of multiple registrants. That ought not to be with things that have been put in place by the Commission,” he stated.
Osaze-Uzzi, a former INEC Director of Legal Services, stated the fee wanted to clarify whether or not its clean-up lined current registrations or data relationship again to 2011.
He recognized a number of registrations as one attainable supply of the irregularities, including that biometric checks might assist determine people who registered greater than as soon as.
Itodo Calls For Independent Audit
Itodo stated the voter register determines who participates in elections and should subsequently include solely eligible voters.
He disclosed that YIAGA Africa’s audits of voter registers in Edo and Bayelsa states in 2018 recognized duplicate registrations, deceased individuals and underage voters.
“Our considered opinion at YIAGA Africa is that the impurities in the voters’ register are beyond the figures that you’ve ruled out. Beyond the two million, beyond the 1.5,” he stated.
He referred to as for an unbiased evaluation of INEC’s newest clean-up, arguing that the fee’s findings ought to be subjected to public scrutiny to revive confidence forward of the 2027 elections.
INEC Should Sanction Responsible Officers
Osaze-Uzzi stated an unbiased evaluation might contain civil society organisations, media representatives, political events and technical specialists, though he acknowledged attainable authorized issues about exterior interference in INEC’s operations.
Itodo additionally referred to as for sanctions towards registration officers liable for the questionable entries.
“The only way Nigerians can trust this process is if you have an independent body, you give them two weeks, they review this,” he stated.
He added that INEC should publicly announce disciplinary actions taken towards accountable officers, saying failure to take action would undermine public confidence.
Ademide Adebayo
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