The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that Governor Yahaya Bello of Kogi State violated the electoral law by registering again in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).
The commission also said the governor committed another offence by registering outside the area designated for the exercise.
In a statement yesterday by Prince Adedeji Soyebi, INEC National Commissioner in charge of Voter Education and Publicity, the electoral umpire said Bello had first registered on January 30, 2011 in Wuse Zone 4, Abuja.
The commission observed that the governor registered again on Tuesday, May 23, 2017 in Government House, Lokoja, the state capital.
“The governor’s double registration and doing so outside INEC’s designated centres are both illegal.
“For the on-going Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, INEC has designated a centre in each of the country’s 774 Local Government Areas including FCT’s six Area Councils.
“INEC wishes to inform the public that it completely dissociates itself from the governor’s action.
“We wish to make it clear that no INEC staff was authorised by the commission to re-register him or any citizen, or to do so outside our designated CVR centres,” the statement added.
The commission stated that Section 308 (l) (a) of the 1999 Constitution (as amended], precludes it from prosecuting Governor Bello while in office, but disclosed that it has cancelled “his second and illegal registration because our Electoral Law and the commission’s guidelines make no exception for anyone to register more than once and to register outside the designated centres.”
It, however, said disciplinary action would be taken against the INEC staff involved
