Kano State Governor, Abba Yusuf, has expressed his administration’s determination to make the state the leading sub-national entity with the highest number of registered voters in the country.
Yusuf gave the assurance when he received briefings on Sunday from the Task Force on Mobilisation for Voter Registration, recently inaugurated to drive the exercise.
The development was contained in a statement issued by the Director of Internal Affairs, Usman Bello, on behalf of the Commissioner for Information and Internal Affairs, Ibrahim Abdullahi Waiya.
The governor urged members of the task force to sustain the momentum by ensuring that every eligible citizen across the state registers and obtains a Permanent Voter Card. He noted that the initiative was part of his administration’s broader efforts to deepen democracy through enhanced civic participation.
“I assure you of my total support in undertaking this critical assignment. Our resolve is to strengthen democracy by ensuring that no eligible citizen is left out of the process,” Yusuf said.
Earlier, the Deputy Governor, Aminu Abdussalam, disclosed that he had met with the Independent National Electoral Commission’s Resident Electoral Commissioner in Kano to assess preparations for the exercise. He added that the state government had pledged to provide the enabling environment to guarantee a smooth registration process.
In his briefing, Waiya, who chairs the task force, highlighted its activities within two weeks of inauguration. He explained that the committee had visited INEC to establish a working relationship aimed at ensuring inclusiveness, irrespective of political affiliation or social background.
The task force, according to him, also engaged stakeholders, including traditional institutions, civil society organisations, local government chairmen and councillors, who pledged to support the recruitment of volunteers across the 484 wards of the state.
“The mobilisation effort is driven by patriotism and a commitment to the development of our dear state,” Waiya said.
PUNCH Online reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission, in its report in August, revealed that a total of 1,379,342 Nigerians completed the online pre-registration process in the first week of the exercise.
While Lagos and Osun states emerged with the highest number of pre-registrations, with 222,205 and 393,269 registrants, respectively, Kano trailed behind.
In the North West, Kaduna’s 61,592 was joined by Kano’s 10,166 and Katsina’s 11,004. Jigawa posted 8,243 registrations, Kebbi’s 35,009 placed it among the top-performing states, while Sokoto and Zamfara registered 12,478 and 2,947, respectively.
