Kogi: INEC Cannot Disqualify Bello For Double Registration – Yakubu

By Ayodele Oluwafemi

The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Mahmood Yakubu has laid to rest the insinuations that Governor Yahaya Bello should be disqualified from participating in the November 16th governorship election over allegations of double registration.

The INEC boss said that while the alleged act of double registration was a contravention of the Electoral Act, he, however, added that the Act did not prescribe disqualification as a penalty for committing the offence.

Yakubu made this known during a quarterly consultative meeting with the media in Abuja.

Recal that INEC had in 2017 accused the governor of double voter registration, which led to the dismissal of two of its officials over their alleged roles in the electoral scandal.

The electoral umpire said: “Under the Electoral Act, double registration is not a condition to disqualify a candidate. In any case, the action we took on the part of the officials that were indicted were administrative based on the terms and conditions of service.

“The action we need to take on non-staff of the commission is to prosecute and we cannot prosecute someone with constitutional immunity. We can only prosecute based on the provision of the Electoral Act.”

A contender in the governorship election, Natasha Akpoti has meanwhile launched an independent move to stop Bello from contesting in the election on the basis of the double registration.

Her move follows INEC’s disqualification of her candidacy on the basis of the claim that her running mate is underaged.

Akpoti has alleged that her disqualification was worked out to make it easier for Bello to win the election.

Send Us A Press Statement Advertise With Us Contact Us

 And For More Nigerian News Visit GWG.NG