The electoral body, through one of its National Electoral Commissioners, Mr. Emmanuel Shoyebi, said that the registration, which was done outside the designated registration centre, also amounted to double registration which is a criminal offence. Shoyebi said that Bello did his first registration at Wuse Zone 11 in Abuja, on January 30, 2011. For their involvement in the double registration saga, a senior official of INEC was compulsorily retired from service while two others were summarily dismissed last month. Apam, however, explained that a temporary voter card was issued to the governor based on legal advice, saying that the governor would surely face the consequences of his crime at the appropriate time. He said that INEC’s legal advisers had advised the electoral body not to deny Bello his right to vote and be voted for since he could not be tried at the moment. On the ongoing Continued Voters Registration, Apam said that INEC had registered 176,866 new voters in Kogi between April 2017 and February, 2018. The Resident Electoral Commissioner said that the new registrants comprised of 90,553 male voters and 86,313 female voters. During the period, he said that the organisation had transferred 7,169 permanent voter cards and replaced 9,400 lost or defaced cards. Similarly, INEC said it distributed 57,148 permanent cards to their owners within the same period, while 202,289 voter cards were still uncollected. Apam restated INEC’s readiness to conduct free and acceptable elections in 2019, urging all stakeholders to help in achieving that. Meanwhile, INEC has said it has received 108 applications from associations seeking to register as political parties and participate in the 2019 general elections. Out of these applications, only nine had successfully gone through to the final stage, the Chairman of INEC, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said on Thursday at the Social Media Week 2018 in Lagos. “The windows will soon close for associations to register as political parties,” Yakubu said. The INEC chairman, who addressed the theme, ‘Citizens, government and technology,’ via teleconferencing, stated that parties that registered six months to the elections would not be eligible to participate in the general elections. To discourage vote buying, Yakubu said the commission would increase sensitisation, enforcement and improve polling unit administration by restructuring the ballot boxes in a way that would not allow voters to reveal the identities of the candidates they voted for. Add 0802 739 7554 To Receive SKYTREND NEWS Alerts On WhatsApp; For Adverts Enquiries, Whatsapp 0802 739 7554, Send Articles & News Stories To editor@skytrendnews.com. Punch READ ALSO! 14-Year-Old Pregnant Housemaid Dislodges Her Childless Madam, Says I Can’t Share Husband With You READ ALSO! SHOCKING, ALARMING: Nigerian FRSC Official Engages Woman In Serious Physical Combat (VIDEO) READ ALSO! How I Stopped Obasanjo From Becoming Nigerian Version Of Mugabe — Atiku READ ALSO! I’m Happy Leaving My Husband, Nine Children For New Lover — Housewife After 23 Years Of Marriage READ ALSO! The Smart CEO: Top 5 Websites To Get Cheap Domain Name Registration READ ALSO! First Bank’s Appalling Customer Service And Utter Disregard For Its Customers READ ALSO! Between GoDaddy And Namecheap: Making The Best Choice For Domain Name Registrar READ ALSO! Nigerian Filmmaker, Zuriel Oduwole Makes Forbes List Of 100 Most Influential African Women READ ALSO! Woman Marries Her Son After Getting Pregnant For Him ]]>