INEC clamps down on ‘voters’ in Plateau, reveals stiff penalties for election defaulters
– INEC announces plans to penalize defaulters at coming polls in Plateau
– The Regional Electoral Commissioner of INEC in the state promises a level playing ground for all parties at the polls
– Urges political parties and their agents to desist from electoral misconducts
Fresh reports say the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to prosecute under-aged voters in Plateau state ahead of re-run elections slated for February 20, 2016.
The Regional Electoral Commissioner of INEC, Dr. Godwin Kwanga, in the state made this known to newsmen in a stakeholders’ forum.
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The stakeholders’ forum comprised of politicians, press men, security operatives and various election observer groups.
The News Agency of Nigeria reported Dr. Kwanga as saying the polls would hold in Langtang South, Pankshin North and Pankshin South state constituencies.
Dr. Kwanga regretted the incidence of under-aged voters in the state, lamenting the dangers of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in their possession.
He added that the under-aged voters nearly brought about issues in the last general elections in Plateau state as they led to numerous cases of voided votes during the the April, 2015 polls in Quan‘Pan local government area of the state.
He lamented other forms of misconducts during the elections saying:
“Our experience in Quan’Pan showed that a lot of underage voters were having the PVCs and this led to a lot of cancellations.
“One of the underage voters, who had PVC bearing his image and the age of 36 years, confessed to INEC officials that he was only 16 years old.
“We looked the other way even when in the same elections, our tags were photocopied and massively reproduced by agents of political parties.”
Given this, the INEC has resolved to severely prosecute defaulters caught in any acts of under-aged voting or electoral misconducts in the coming election re-run and supplementary polls.
He also stated that card reader machines would be used for the February 20 polls.
He added that the INEC would try its best to ensure the atmosphere is free and fair for all political parties, even as he enjoined all party agents to stick by the electoral principles instead of compromising ad hoc staff.
Dr. Kwanga called on the political parties and their agents to desist from tampering with election materials and voting machine given it could alter the entire voting process.
He said: “I beg agents of political parties not to lure ad hoc staff to tamper with materials as it will disrupt the process.
“Once you remove the battery from the machine, it malfunctions when you replace it, and ad hoc personnel are not trained on such duties.”
The INEC commissioner also announced that accreditation exercises and voting would run simultaneously between the hours of 8am and 4pm on February 20.
He said the election in Langtang North would hold in 68 polling units and would be contested only by the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Mega Progressives Peoples Party (MPPP) candidates, adding that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) candidate Vincent Bulus had been excluded from the poll.
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He said: “Pankshin South state constituency election will hold only in Nyelleng polling unit in Fier Area while that of Pankshin North will hold in Pyabor polling unit.
“The four political parties and candidates to contest in Pankshin North state constituency are Alice Dimlong, APC; Yakubu Zetgang, LP; Tamnakat David, MPPP and Diket Plang, PDP.
“Supplementary election in Pankshin South will feature Gideon Dashe, APC, Dagak Michael, APGA; Theresa Bartuk, MPPP and Mwamsat Istifanus, PDP.”
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