From Mustapha Isah Kwaru, Maiduguri
Senator Mohammed Ali Ndume, representing Borno South yesterday, urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to make provisions for Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) during 2015 general polls.
Senator Ndume made the call while speaking to newsmen in Maiduguri, lamenting that several persons who registered in the last INEC registration had been rendered homeless by the Boko Haram insurgents in some parts of the country.
“It is a known that the people in eight of out the 27 local government areas in Borno have turned into IDPs due to the insurgency. These people had registered in the previous exercise for voting, but they cannot go back home to vote now unless the insurgency is brought to an end,’’ Ndume said.
He added that since the insurgency had not ended, the affected people cannot vote in their original polling units at home.
“INEC should make provisions for polling units for the IDPs so that they can exercise their voting rights,’’ Ndume said.
He promised to table a motion on the issue at National Assembly next week.
“I am going to propose an amendment to the Electoral Act at the Senate, so that the issue can be looked at properly. I think that the act must be amended to take care of the IDPs because they are also Nigerians,’’ Ndume said.
He added: “If we are trying to make provisions for Nigerians in diaspora to vote, I think that the IDPs should be considered too’’.
Ndume called on the Federal Government to re-double its efforts towards ending the insurgency so that the IDPs can return home before the elections.
Never miss a moment! Get the stories shaping Nigeria, delivered straight to your phone. Follow Peoplesdaily Newspaper on WhatsApp for breaking news, exclusive reports, and the headlines everyone will be talking about, before anyone else.
