Under-age voting: Blame Jega, INEC-Afenifere

Afenifere, pan-Yoruba socio-political organisation, on Tuesday said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and its immediate past chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega, should be held responsible over the rampant cases of underage voters which is prevalent in the northern part of the country.

In a chat, Yinka Odumakin, the organisation’s National Publicity Secretary said it is surprising that children can be seen voting in some sections of the country when the law of the country stipulates that anyone below the age of 18 is not eligible to vote.

While also holding Jega responsible for the anomaly, Afenifere said in the build up to the 2015 general election, while INEC under Jega’s leadership distributed the PVCs to individuals in the Southern part of the country, they allegedly handed them over to Emirs in the North, who in turn distributed them to everyone in their locality, including children.

While calling for an investigation into the issue, Afenifere said urgent action must be taken to correct the anomaly before the 2019 election saying failure to do so may hamper the conduct of free, fair and credible polls next year.