2023: 2.72m not Kano alone – Uzi-Osaze clarifies number of underage, ineligible voters

Former Director of Voter Education of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Oluwole Uzi-Osaze, has provided clarity on the issues of underage and ineligible voters in the recently released Provisional Register of Voters.

Mike Igini, the former Akwa Ibom State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), had accused some staff of the commission of registering underage voters.

Igini blamed the collapse of values in society for being responsible for underage registration, berating parents who allowed their underaged children to register as voters.

The PRV was released recently for citizens to look at, seek clarifications and make complaints to the commission where necessary.

Faces of alleged underage voters have been spotted in many states, especially in the North with Kano State said to have recorded over 2.72 million underage voters.

But speaking on Arise Television’s The Morning Show on Friday, Uzi-Osaze said the 2.72 was not for Kano alone but nationwide.

He explained further: “It’s either the electoral Commissioner was misquoted or he got it wrong. Somebody got it wrong.

“The total number of ineligible voters as released by INEC is 2.72 million people not just in Kano State but nationwide.

“The total number of people who turn out for CVR in Kano was five hundred and sixty something thousand and less than a hundred thousand …were actually held to be ineligible