A minor who showed up at the
Kofar Pada polling unit in front of
the Emir palace in Keffi, Nasarawa
State, stirred up a heated argument
between agents of political parties
participating in today’s
governorship and state assembly
elections, leading to scuffles.
The boy of about 12 whose name
Daily Trust decided not to mention,
divided opinion among agents of
the PDP, APC, and APGA as well as
Accord party, Shehu Kassim
Yamusa, Auwal Shauibu,, Monday
Yohanna, and Yusuf Shuaibu,
respectively, leading to a shouting
match before security personnel,
polling officers, and a European
observers team.
Some insisted the under-aged voter,
who presented a valid PVC for
accreditation be allowed to
perform his civic duty at that age
because he has been so registered
by INEC, while others insisted he
must not be allowed because doing
so contravenes the provisions of the
law on age of voters.
The argument lasted over 20
minutes, with agents even engaging
themselves in a scuffle that took a
combined team of policemen and
other security agencies to separate
them.
All of these happened before a team
of European Observers, which was
led by Dirk Veheyen, and Joelle
Meganck. The foreigner observers
interviewed the little boy, and took
down his data, but declined to
speak officially to our
correspondent.
Meanwhile, the Presiding Officer in
charge of the polling unit, Miss
Rashidat Momoh told Daily Trust
that the unit was not going to
accredit the minor, although would-
be voters at the unit told their
correspondent that the boy voted on
March 28, in the first round of
elections.
The unit’s senior policeman, Insp.
Alibade Charles confirmed the
incident.
Tagged: editorial, election 2015