The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has moved the start date of physical voter registration for the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration campaign from July 19 to July 26.

INEC’s spokesman, Festus Okoye, announced the decision in an Abuja statement on Friday.

He explained that the one-week change occurred in response to the government’s declaration of July 20 and 21 as public holidays.

Mr Okoye stated that the commission met on Thursday and deliberated on a number of issues, including the start of physical voter registration and online registrants’ scheduled appointments.

He recalled that on Tuesday, July 13, the commission met with Resident Electoral Commissioners and discussed how the public holidays could affect the start of physical voter registration on Monday, July 19.

“Also at risk of having their registration schedules disrupted are some online registrants who have scheduled appointments to complete their registrations on dates that coincide with the same public holidays.

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“Subsequently, the commission promised to meet on Thursday, July 15, to review the situation and provide clarification. This is precisely what has occurred.

“With the federal government declaring Tuesday, July 20, and Wednesday, July 21, as public holidays, the date scheduled for the start of physical registration must be adjusted.

“As a result, physical voter registration will now begin on Monday, July 26.”

Mr Okoye stated that online registrants who had appointments scheduled between July 19 and 23 would have their appointments rescheduled.

He emphasized the one-year duration of the Continuous Voter Registration, assuring all Nigerians that no citizen eligible to register as a voter would be left behind.

(NAN)

Buhari’s Media Attacks Bishop Kuka For Informing The US Congress About The President

The Buhari Media Organization (BMO) has accused Bishop Mathew Kukah, the Catholic Bishop of Sokoto, of providing false information during his recent testimony before the United States Congress.
It warned the US Congress to be suspicious of Kukah and to disregard his submissions.

BMO stated that the clergyman was being deliberately mischievous in his recent virtual testimony before the United States of America’s Tom Lantos Human Rights Commission, where he discussed the state of insecurity and religious crisis in Nigeria under President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration.

According to Naija News, Kukah previously chastised the Muhammadu Buhari-led administration over Nigeria’s religious crisis.

Although attacks on Christians in Nigeria have occurred for many years, the outspoken cleric noted that they have increased in the last decade.

Bishop Kukah made this statement during a virtual presentation to the United States Congress in Washington, DC, on the persecution of Christians in Nigeria by Islamic extremist groups in the country’s Northern Region.

The Catholic leader testified before the US Congress that extremists, bandits, Fulani herdersmen, and Boko Haram are targeting numerous schools in the North, particularly Christian ones, with the intent of “indoctrinating the children.”

However, in a statement issued in response to the development, BMO Chairman Niyi Akinsiju and Secretary Cassidy Madueke accused Kukah of ‘deliberate mischief.’

“Like many Nigerians, we were appalled to watch Bishop Kukah, a key leader of the National Peace Committee (NPC), make a presentation before a US Congress commission about alleged government-sanctioned persecution of Christians that is manifestly at odds with reality on the ground.”

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“We boldly assert that banditry and insurgency in some parts of Northern Nigeria are pure criminality, not necessarily sectarian, and we are gravely concerned that Kukah, who admitted in his testimony that Muslims have also been targeted, would attempt to present criminal matters as religious cleansing or systemic persecution of Christians.”

“In fact, all indications point to the Muslim community facing more attacks from criminal elements in the North than the Catholic Bishop painted for Americans in his presentation of a worsening situation for Christians over the last decade.”

“What is more concerning is Father Kukah’s suggestion that the Buhari administration is not only powerless but also unwilling to deal decisively with bandits. Our position is that this line of thought can be advanced only by an unrepentant government critic who has purposefully refused to acknowledge the administration’s and military’s efforts to stem the tide of banditry and other security challenges in the country.”

“We simply cannot fathom how someone who lives and works in Sokoto could be unaware of the Nigerian Air Force’s numerous bombing raids on bandit hideouts in neighboring Zamfara State, including the most recent one that killed at least 120 bandits in Sububu forest the day before his skewed testimony before the US Congress.”

“The case of Bishop Kukah is not one of innocent ignorance. It is deliberate mischief, because no public affairs analyst worth his salt would be unaware that no administration in the last two decades has done more to improve the operational efficiency of the Police and other security agencies than the current one”.

“We would like to advise American legislators to be cautious of the Catholic Bishop, who, despite being the Secretary of the National Peace Committee (NPC), has done little to promote national peace. Rather than that, he consistently takes potshots at the Buhari administration.”

Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State has chastised President Muhammadu Buhari for approving N6.25 billion for ranching in Katsina State and disbursing N5 billion from the fund.

Ortom described the President’s action as deception and hypocrisy, given that he has advocated for the establishment of cattle routes and open grazing in other states of the federation.

He added that the President’s decision to approve such funds for Katsina while excluding other states is questionable.