INEC partners NIS on border areas

Posted by admin Latest Politics Wednesday, January 19th, 2011

The office of Independent National Electoral Commission at Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State has entered into partnership with the Nigeria Immigration Service to ensure that only Nigerians register in the ongoing voter registration exercise.

The electoral officer in charge of the local government, Alhaji Inusa Yusuf, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Illela, Sokoto State.

“We have taken concrete measures to ensure that only Nigerians are registered in the border areas,” the electoral officer said.

He said that some immigration officers had been deployed already in some polling units in the communities bordering Niger Republic.

Yusuf said the measure was taken in order to ensure that only Nigerians were involved in the exercise.

He, however, acknowledged some hitches in the exercise, especially on the welfare of registration officers posted to rural communities.

“Most of them hardly eat because of the distance between the rural areas and Illela town,” he said.

NAN reports that the situation was the same at Kware, Gwadabawa and wurno local government areas.

Secretary, Gwadabawa local government, Alhaji Abubakar Wamakko, expressed displeasure over the slow pace of registration in the area.

Wamakko told NAN on Monday that the council had embarked on massive sensitisation campaign at the grassroots to create awareness for the ongoing registration exercise in the area.

-Punchwp_posts