How inecnigeria Officials In Gombe Disenfranchise Residents of Hard-to-reach Communities Who Fail to Bribe Them | Sahara Reporters 2023Election
How INEC Officials In Gombe Disenfranchise Residents of Hard-to-reach Communities Who Fail to Bribe ThemAhead of Nigeria’s 2023 general elections, residents of some hard-to-reach communities in Gombe state cannot participate in the general election. They were disenfranchised by INEC officials who accepted kickbacks in order to travel long distances to capture potential voters.
WikkiTimes’ findings showed that, despite the difficulty in accessing most of these settlements, the impoverished agrarians and herders who live there could not afford to go to the closest PVC registration centre at their respective local government headquarters.Despite orders from their superior officers, INEC registration officers did not go to these villages to register potential voters.
For them, this arrangement with INEC officials solved the problems they encountered in their bid to get PVC. For the registration officers, on the other hand, it is a subtle window to enrich themselves. Malam Usman Liman Abubakar, Wakilin Hakimin Kunde, said when the community realised that most people who have attained the voting age will be disenfranchised, a committee was raised and sent to the INEC office in Dukku where they pleaded with the electoral umpire to send registration officers to register them.
“We realised other community members could not afford to go to Kumu or Gombe and register, so we decided to come in to ease their woes,” he said. “It became necessary to beg those people to come. I had to personally sacrifice for my people and sponsor their journey