INEC reveals amount spent on Melaye recall, denies it was N1bn

The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC ), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, on Friday revealed what the futile exercise to recall Senator Dino Melaye cost the commission.

He said that ‘only N100 million’ was spent on the failed efforts to recall the embattled Kogi – West senator contrary to the purported N1billion.

Yakubu made this revelation while answering questions regarding the amount spent on the exercise was thrown at him during a press conference in Abuja, on the findings of the Nahuche-led Committee set up to investigate the allegations of underage voting in the Kano State Local Government Elections.

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According to him, the claim by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) that N1 billion was spent for the exercise was not true, as the amount spent was nowhere near that claim.

He went further to explain that conducting a recall exercise could be likened to conducting a senatorial election.

Speaking on the findings of the Committee on the allegations of underage voting in the Kano State Local Government Elections, Prof. Yakubu stated, “You would recall that following the Kano State Local Govt election held on 10th Feb 2018, there were several reports in the media, particularly the Social media, alleging that underage persons voted in the election.

“Both explicit and implicit in some of these reports was the suggestion that since the National Register of Voters compiled by INEC was used in the election, the alleged problem of underage voting in the Kano Local Government Election is linked to a prevalence of underage registrants in the National Register of Voters.

“I must note that till date, not a single formal complaint on this matter has been received by the Commission. Rather, some stakeholders, including a political party, have taken to the media to criticise INEC and in some cases to impugn the integrity of the National Register of Voters”.

According to him, “KANSIEC requested for & received from INEC the Kano State Register of Voters for the election. The Register was produce for use for the election. However, the Register was only sighted in a few Polling Units. In others words, the Register was not used in most of Polling Units.

“In fact, accreditation using the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) largely did not take place”.

 

 

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