The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has increased the number of polling units in Kano State from 8,074 to 11,222 to make voting easier for electorates.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) Riskua Shehu revealed this on Tuesday while delivering an address at a one-day workshop on electoral reporting in Kano.
He said as of January 14th only 77,255 of the 128,628 applicants completed their online voter registrations in Kano, leaving behind 40 per cent as invalid.
He said the incomplete registrations were mainly because the voters were ignorant of the registration process.
He added that the commission has identified over 200,000 multiple registrations in Kano during the previous exercise.
“We have 481,318 both old and new PVC yet to be collected. Some people are registering more than once. I will blame that on their inability to understand that the registration is not for everyone,” he said.
“As of 14th of January, 2022 there were 77,255 valid registrations of all the registered figures while 40 per cent are invalid. People should understand that this registration exercise is not for everybody but for those who have not registered before, those who want to change location and those who want to correct their captured details. Those who have their permanent voters card don’t need to register again unless it is lost or destroyed,” he said.
Mr Riskua said people should be tolerant of their opponents in politics, adding that there was no reason anyone should die because of politics.
He called on radio stations to desist from allocating airtime to politicians who are notorious for making defamatory statements and hate speeches on air.
ALSO READ: Only 50% of polling units have 3G network to transmit election results – NCC
He said Kano is a sensitive state and violence in the state can destabilise the North-west region.
On his part, the Kano State Chapter Nigerian Union of Journalists(NUJ) Chairman, Abbas Ibrahim, solicited INEC’s support to make the interactive session with journalists regularly in order to keep them abreast of the current trend and fill the gap of misinformation and disinformation.
Mr Ibrahim, who was represented by the NUJ Financial Secretary, Nasiru Ibrahim, assured the commission that journalists in the state would be for fair and factual coverage of the electoral process.
Also speaking, Chairman Kano Correspondent Chapel, Ibrahim Garba-Shu’aibu, said the workshop was to educate journalists on the new issues of amendment of electoral acts and effective reporting.
Support PREMIUM TIMES' journalism of integrity and credibility
Good journalism costs a lot of money. Yet only good journalism can ensure the possibility of a good society, an accountable democracy, and a transparent government.
For continued free access to the best investigative journalism in the country we ask you to consider making a modest support to this noble endeavour.
By contributing to PREMIUM TIMES, you are helping to sustain a journalism of relevance and ensuring it remains free and available to all.
TEXT AD: To place an advert here . Call Willie - +2348098788999
JOIN THE CONVERSATION