KANO UNDERAGE VOTING: INEC says viral pictures of child voters are from Kenya

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has pushed back on claims that some of the pictures of underage voters making the rounds in the social media were captured in Kano State, claiming instead that they were actually taken in Kenya.

The commission argued that there was no evidence connecting the pictures to Kano State.

Abubakar Nauche, chairman of the committee set up by the electoral body said this at a press conference on Friday.

Mahmood Yakubu, chairman of INEC, had instituted the panel following allegations that minors participated in last month’s local government election in the state.

Shortly after the election which was won swept by the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC), images of children participating in election went viral.

But Nahuce maintained there was no evidence that the pictures were from the Kano exercise, attributing some of them to Kenya.

“From the interaction with civil society organisations and media, no evidence of underage voting has been presented,” he said.

“We have discussed with you media men, but none of you said he saw any underage voter in the line on election day.

Read also: DOUBLE REGISTRATION: We will ensure that Governor Bello is prosecuted- INEC

“All what we saw were from social media and they are not verifiable… some of them (pictures and videos) are not even from Nigeria, some are from Kenya elections but people are attributing them to Nigeria.”

Nahuche said the team would write its report and submit to INEC headquarters for further action.

Recall that the Kano State Government through Mohammed Garba, Kano State Commissioner for Information, had said the images were taken during the 2015 general election.

He said, “What you have seen in the video clip showing underage kids voting, did not happen now. It was recorded during the last 30 March 2015 elections”.

Suspicion and doubt are sure to continue as many would find it hard to reconcile both contradictory claims.

 

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