Kogi Governor, Mr. Yahaya Bello, has escaped prosecution because he enjoys executive immunity over double registration as a voter; but three staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) were not so lucky.
Two were summarily dismissed for acts of gross misconduct, while an electoral officer has been compulsorily retired for the same “gross misconduct”, not unrelated to Bello’s double registration.
At the close of INEC’s weekly meeting, the commission announced the registration of an additional 21 political parties, bringing the number in the country to 67, according to a statement last night by Mrs. Mary Agbamuche-Mbu, a national commissioner and member of the Information and Voter Education Committee.
On the Anambra Central Senatorial election slated for 13 January 2018 following a Court of Appeal judgment, INEC said its attention has been drawn to a December 13, 2017 judgment of a Federal High Court in Abuja, adding that it has applied for a certified true copy of the judgment “to enable (it) take a decision.”