Three people have been detained by the Department of State Service on suspicion of running a phony Continuous Voter Registration center and coercing eligible voters into signing up for the ongoing registration drive in Nasarawa State.
According to The PUNCH, the INEC acting Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity, Ibrahim Onawo, disclosed this while speaking to our correspondent in Lafia on Friday
Onawo said that the three suspects were apprehended by DSS operatives while distributing registration forms to eligible voters at the Government Science Secondary School in Lafia.
He stated that the suspects were apprehended after a tip-off from a committee formed recently to investigate alleged extortion of eligible voters in the state.
Onawo added that the suspects would be handed over to the police for further investigations.
“The suspects claimed that their non-governmental organization, Middle Belt Youth Development Organization had collaborated with INEC in Nasarawa state which was why they went ahead to register the eligible voters.
“We actually received a letter from the NGO but we are yet to approve their request, so I wonder why they went ahead to collect money from residents of the state, claiming that we were working in partnership.
“Each of the eligible voters paid N1,000 for registration, so you can imagine how much money they have made from the public.
“These are the people giving the commission a bad image and we will not tolerate it. The DSS will transfer the case to the police for onward investigation,” Onawo said.
