Utomi decries suspension of voter’s registration, harps on security ahead of 2023 elections

A political economist, Prof. Pat Utomi, on Sunday accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of rights violation following the suspension of the Continuous Voters Registration ahead of the 2023 general elections.

Utomi, who spoke during a guest appearance on Newsnight, a pre-recorded show on Channels Television, urged the commission to intensify to fast-track the issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to Nigerians.

He said: “I don’t like the fact that voter registration is not continuing, I think that is an invasion of the democratic rights of the citizens.

“INEC likes to put bureaucracy above democracy. I think that all efforts need to be made to ensure that people are getting their PVC after registration. I don’t think they are doing enough; I think more needs to be done.”

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He also challenged the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the country’s security challenges ahead of the election.

He added: “We must do everything to contain as much of it as possible to make a democratic process work next year

“Nothing about this state of insecurity is a surprise. Just at a time, the civilian government was coming in in 1999, an American predicted what we are going through.”

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