The Commissioner & Member, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has confirmed that the Kogi State Governor, Alhaji Yahaya Bello, engaged in double registration during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in his Kogi state, effectively violating the Electoral Act.
The reaction to the alleged double registration by the governor of Kogi State in the on-going CVR exercise, the commission had set up a panel to investigate into the involvement by its staffs. It explained that the initial report submitted by the panel was referred to the Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee, which made recommendations to the commission.
However, the commission said that it was constrained from acting on Bello’s culpability because he currently enjoys “immunity from prosecution as a sitting Governor”, but had ordered the dismissal of two of its personnel involved in the gullible act. It has also ordered the compulsory retirement of an electoral officer involved in the illegal act for gross misconduct.
In the statement made available to newsmen in Abuja reads: “Following reports of the alleged double registration by the governor of Kogi State in the on-going Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, the commission set up a panel of investigation into the involvement of staff in the matter. The initial report submitted by the panel was referred to the Appointment, Promotion and Disciplinary Committee, which made recommendations to the commission. While the governor of Kogi State currently enjoys immunity from prosecution, the commission took the following decisions in respect of its own staff: Summary dismissal of two staff for acts of gross misconduct, immediate and compulsory retirement of an electoral officer for acts of gross misconduct.”
