Senator Ganiyu Solomon's Name Missing From Voters' Register

LAGOS, April 05, (THEWILL) - The last has not been heard about Saturday’s botched election as Senate Committee Chairman on Capital Market, Senator Ganiyu Solomon Monday said his name was missing from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) voter register, a situation he described, confusing and strange.

Solomon, who is seeking reelection on the platform of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN), confirmed to THEWILL that his name was omitted on voter register.

He said he had filed a formal complaint with the electoral commission stating that he would not have been able to vote last Saturday if the election had held as earlier scheduled.

The senator said when Jega said the cancellation “was because materials were not available, I like you to understand that it goes beyond that. He has not told us the entire truth, because in my polling units for instance my name was not there. I am a candidate and my name, in a place where I have registered since I turned 18, now suddenly disappeared. We had about 500 registered voters but INEC came with a register containing only 153 names.”

Though Solomon said he does not believe the omission was deliberate, wondered what Jega would do to rectify the problem within five days. He said that the number of accredited voters was not up to half of number of registered voters. In Babatunde Fashola’s ward, 273 voters were accredited out of 870 registered voters. In another polling unit in Ikeja, 200 voters were accredited out of 828 registered voters. Many voters claimed they could not find their names on the register.

In his own reaction, Lagos State Chairman of National Conscience Party (NCP), Tunde Agunbiade said the voting that took place in Lagos not only exposed INEC’s ill preparation, but also revealed “a high level of irregularity. If the election had run as scheduled, the level of disenfranchisement and irregularity would have been worse than 2007 elections.”