The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is to prosecute 72 out of some 93,000 cases of double registration recorded in 2011 in Anambra.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukogu, made the disclosure while speaking with newsmen in Awka on Saturday.
He said that the prosecution would serve as a deterrent to other intending electoral offenders in the state.
Onukaogu said that INEC was determined to make election a process in Nigeria and not an event.
He said that the commission was able to detect the fraud during the data consolidation process, finding people with multiple registrations.
“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.
The commissioner said that INEC had improved over the years, noting that loopholes of yesteryears had been plugged.
He warned voters to desist from violating electoral laws.
Onukaogu also disclosed that 50 wards in the state recorded zero in the direct data capturing machine during the consolidation process, saying that the wards would be re-registered.
The commissioner said that the affected wards were in Awka South Local Government Area with 34 wards; Nnewi South with five wards; Nnewi North four; Idemili North two; Ayamelum two and Ihiala two.
He said that electorate in the affected wards would be re-captured, urging voters to avail themselves of the opportunity to re-register.
The commissioner said that the commission had embarked on pasting of registered voters? names in all the 4,608 polling units in the state.
Onukaogu said that the exercise would end on August 18, to ensure that eligible voters were not denied their rights to vote.
Meanwhile, a former National Publicity Secretary of the Peoples’ Democratic Party (PDP), Professor Rufai Alkali, has urged the party faithful in Anambra to remain united ahead of the November 16 governorship polls.
Alkali, who spoke in Abuja on Saturday, warned that divisive tendencies among the aspirants could mar the chances of the party in the election.
He recalled that it was such squabbles that cost the party the opportunity of producing the governor of the state as was the case in the last governorship election.
“The tendency in Anambra has always been to divide instead of to unite, and that has not been favourable to the party as we saw in the last election.
“In the run up to the last election in the state which produced an All Progressive Grand Alliance (APGA) governor, we have very good aspirants, but they couldn?t agree.
“They were almost 50 candidates vying for one position; it became very difficult even to organise the congress; at the end of it all, our votes were split.
“Our prayer and hope is that this time around, we put our house together.
“If stakeholders can put their differences aside, then PDP will win in Anambra, but if again they make the same mistake, it will too bad for us,?? he said.
Alkali expressed regrets that Governor Peter Obi, won the last election with less than 100,000 votes in a state that had 1.7 million registered voters.
The PDP has fixed August 24 for the state primaries to produce its governorship candidate.
