‘Extortion’: INEC withdraws two officials from Benue LG office — after TheCable’s report

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has withdrawn two of its officials who were exposed for demanding payment for voter registration.

The commission announced its decision in a statement on Friday, signed by Shehu Abdulwahab, INEC’s administrative secretary in Benue. 

An investigation by TheCable, published on June 16, had revealed that INEC officials in Oju LGA of Benue were asking for N300 as payment for voter registration. 

INEC described the development as “ugly”, saying it is “deeply concerned” because it made provisions to ensure a smooth conduct of the voter registration process.

“The attention of the Commission has been drawn to reports that two of our staff in Oju LGA were alleged to have demanded payment of a fee before registering citizens as voters in the local government,” the statement reads. 

“The Commission is deeply concerned over this development as provisions have been made to our offices across the state to ensure hitch-free exercise at no cost to the citizens.

“As an immediate measure to arrest the ugly situation, the Commission has withdrawn the two staff from the field, issued them query and replaced them with another set of staff.

“Furthermore, all the electoral officers in the 23 LGA offices in the state have been directed to warn their staff to desist from extorting money from registrants before registering them.”

The commission added that “voter registration is absolutely free”, and urged residents to report illegal activities at any registration centre to the following numbers: 08036048515; 08067842987; or 08023070215.