Evidence Of Obiano’s Multiple
Registration Emerges, INEC Under
Pressure To Disqualify, Prosecute Him
November 7, 2013 - 02:31 —
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caption:
Three registration card for APGA
candidate Willie Obiano
By SaharaReporters, New York
Despite an insistence by Willie
Obiano, the governorship
candidate of the All Progressives
Grand Alliance (APGA), that he
did not engage in multiple
registrations, damning evidence
has now emerged that he did. The
proof that Mr. Obiano registered
multiple times might put his
candidature in serious trouble, a
source at the electoral
commission said.
The revelations came after an
Anambra State High Court had
granted the candidate a weird
injunction to shield him from
criminal prosecution.
Unimpeachable documents
obtained by SaharaReporters show
that Mr. Obiano registered more
than once, an act that violates the
law. On August 21, 2013, he was
issued a voter identification
number (VIN)
90F5B12B88377091121. Then, at
10.25 a.m., on September 3,
2013, he was given another voter
identification number
90F5B15E7D378200332. A third
registration car has also emerged
from Kosofe Local Government
area in Lagos.
Except for the fact that the APGA
candidate wore different clothes,
all the information in the three
registrations remained the same.
In the cards, he was registered as
“Obiano, Maduabuchi Willie.” His
address in both documents was
given as “No. 1 Chief Willie Obiano
Street, Otuocha” just as his date
of birth was recorded as August 8,
1955. His age on both cards was
recorded as 56.
The watermarks on the cards
clearly show the different voter
identification numbers as well as
different issuing dates and times,
though the name of the candidate
was unchanged.
“It is against the law to register
more than once,” a source at INEC
told SaharaReporters today.
Section 12(2) of the Electoral Act
2010 (as amended) provides that
“A person shall not register in
more than one registration center
or register more than once in the
same registration center.” Section
12(3) then states that any person
who contravenes the law would be
liable “on conviction to a fine not
exceeding N100,000 or
imprisonment.”
The documents’ appearance
coupled with the embarrassment
caused by Mr. Obiano’s cheating
at the Governorship Debate where
he was caught reading from
prepared materials contrary to the
express rules given by the
organizers, may cause the APGA
candidate to be removed from the
race for the election of November
16, 2013.
Our INEC source said the
documents are bound to put
intense pressure on the electoral
commission to probe the APGA
candidate for registering three
times, given that Obiano had
conceded that he had also
registered in Lagos, but claimed
that he duly transferred his
registration to Anambra.
Curiously, he has been unable to
provide any evidence to show that
due process was followed or that
he received approval from INEC
for such transfer.
Also, the multiple registration
saga has poked holes in claims by
INEC that it has “cleaned up” the
voters’ register by removing the
names of multiple registrants. In
past elections in Anambra State,
such names like “Mike Tyson” and
“Bill Clinton” among others have
been seen in the list of registered
voters.
In late October, INEC’s
commissioner for election
monitoring, Ishmael Igbani, said
that the commission had
“detected 93,526 multiple
registration cases in Anambra
State ahead of the November
16 governorship election. This
represents five per cent of the
registered voters in Anambra and
they have been removed from the
voters register.”
The fact that INEC was unable to
detect multiple registrations by
even high-profile registrants and
Governorship aspirants, such as
Obiano, has brought doubt to the
commission’s assurance that it had
prepared well for the election. It
also begs the question whether
INEC did its due diligence on the
governorship aspirants before
giving them clearance to run.
Last August, Chukwuemeka
Onukogu, INEC’s Resident
Commissioner for Anambra State,
had made strident promises to
prosecute multiple registrants in
Anambra. He stated that INEC
would prosecute 72 out of some
93,526 cases of multiple
registrations recorded in 2011 in
Anambra, saying that the move
would serve as a deterrent to
those intending to commit
electoral offences. He said, “We
have their names, pictures,
addresses and gradually all of
them will be caught and
prosecuted but we are starting
with 72 persons. The state police
command had been notified.”
However, the question remains
whether INEC was unable to
identify Mr. Obiano or whether
the commissioner shielded him
from exposure.
The public emergence of the
documents has also drawn
attention to a recent decision by
an Anambra State High Court
which hurriedly cleared Mr.
Obiano of the weighty allegation
that he registered more than
once. A court sitting at Otuocha in
Anambra East local government
area had dismissed a petition
brought by one Chuma Tony Oli
asking for the disqualification of
the APGA candidate based on
multiple registration. Justice D.
O. C. Amaechina however threw
out the petition “for lack of
merit” and awarded N50,000 costs
against the plaintiff.
Justice Amaechina has been noted
for controversial rulings. When he
was sitting at a court in Ihiala, he
was nearly assaulted by angry PDP
party faithful following his
controversial handling of a case
between Andy Uba and other PDP
members. The judge reportedly
escaped through the window when
the angry mob invaded his court.
His distress call to the police DPO
in the area received no attention.
A political source in Anambra
argued that Justice Amaechina’s
order was meant to indirectly
influence another petition now
pending before the Federal High
Court at Awka. The Federal case
was brought by one Abum
Emeremgini and is praying for an
injunction restraining INEC and
Mr. Onukaogu from recognizing
Mr. Obiano as a candidate in the
November 16 governorship
election. The plaintiff is also
asking the court to disqualify Mr.
Obiano for the alleged multiple
registration.
Mr. Emeremgini lawsuit alleges
that proper procedure was not
followed for the transfer of the
name of Mr. Obiano from Lagos to
Anambra State in INEC’s
transferred voter’s list.
The Director-General of Obiano
Campaign Organization, Joe-
Martins Uzodike, had dismissed
the call for the disqualification of
Obiano. He said the issue of
multiple registration was “a false
rumor being spread in the Internet
by some political opponents from
other parties who are jittery over
the landslide victory Dr. Obiano
would record against them.”
APGA’s state chairman, Mike
Kwentoh, also denied the
widespread allegation. According
to Mr. Kwentoh, “The allegation
of double registration is not true.
Obiano only transferred his
registration from Lagos to
Anambra State. People should
disregard such stories and treat it
as false.’’
However, the appearance of the
documents finally shows that the
Emeka Obinabo
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