INEC Probes Under-aged Voting In Kano LG Poll

A panel has been set up by the Independent National Electoral Commissioner (INEC) to probe reports of underage voting in the recently held local government election in Kano state.

This was according to INEC Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, who made this known at a workshop in Lagos on Friday.

Yakubu said the panel, which will be made public, will get to the root of the images of children below 18 years participating as voters during the poll.

The INEC Chairman said this in the light of the outrage by Nigerians on social media calling for probe into the matter.

“We wish to assure Nigerians that the matter will be fully investigated,” he said.

“A national commissioner will lead a team including technical staff drawn from voter registry, ICT and electoral operations departments for an immediate and comprehensive investigation.

“We will share the findings with Nigerians.”

Reacting earlier to the footage of the underage voters that went viral on social media, INEC had said:

“The commission wishes to inform the public that the images do not relate in any way to any election organised, conducted or superintended by INEC.

“As far as the commission can ascertain, they relate to a local government election conducted at the weekend, and over which we have no legal control or responsibility whatsoever.

“While the commission is charged with conducting elections at the state and national level, state electoral commissions are responsible for conducting the elections on the local government level,” said the commission in a statement by its Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi.