The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that it is deleting the voter registers of people who are too young to lawfully cast a ballot in order to prevent children from voting.
During an appearance on Channels TV's Politics Today, Festus Okoye, the commission's commissioner for information and voter education, made this apparent.
Festus Okoye replied, "On the subject of the underage voters, this commission published the full registered voters in Nigeria in various local government areas and all the registration locations," when asked what the commission is doing about minors and foreigners.
“People have made their objections, complaints and claims. The commission is presently cleaning up the voter register. The cleaning up is an ongoing exercise, and we will try our best to make sure that we go into the 2023 general election with a voter register that Nigerians will be proud of.
“Regarding non-Nigerians voting, only validly registered voters will be in the position to vote in the 2023 general election. Any time Immigration Service sees any non-Nigerian with a voter’s card and claims to be a Nigerian, they should arrest him and make the card available to INEC, and we cancel those registrations.
“Therefore, Nigerians should be on the lookout. If any non-Nigerian approaches any of the polling unit, they should alert security agencies.”