No eligible voter will be defranchised in 2019 polls — INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says it is working hard to ensure that no eligible voter in the country is defranchised during the 2019 general election.

Alhaji Abdullahi Kaugama, INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Kaduna State, gave the assurance on Tuesday in Kaduna while interacting with political parties and other election stakeholders on Continuous Voter Registration.

The REC said that the nationwide continuous voters registration was meant to capture all eligible voters ahead of the 2019 polls.

According to him, the exercise will be flagged-off in the state at Hunkuyi, Kudan Local Government on Thursday, and would subsequently commence in all INEC offices in the 23 local government areas of the state.

Our correspondent reports that the exercise was for eligible residents of the state who did not register to vote in 2015 and those who attained the age of 18 years after the last general election.

Kaugama explained that the exercise was restricted to INEC local council offices due to logistics constraints, but would later be extended to all the 255 wards and polling units.

He urged political parties, CSOs, and the media to monitor the exercise to ensure that no person register by proxy.

The REC said those registered would collect their permanent voters card three months after the exercise.

Our correspondent reports that no fewer than 10 registered political parties, officials of the NYSC, National Orientation Agency, representatives of security agencies, CSOs and members of the media attended the event.