By Izunna Okafor, Awka
The Anambra State government called on the residents to be vigilant and to immediately report any suspicious element requesting their National Identification Number (NIN) under any guise.
The warning, according to the government, followed the discovery of a dangerous and fraudulent scheme by certain individuals and groups who are reportedly moving across various communities in the state, collecting people’s NINs with false claims of an ongoing revalidation exercise purportedly initiated by the National Identity Management Commission (NIMC).
Announcing this in a press release signed on Tuesday, the Anambra State Commissioner for Information, Dr. Law Mefor, categorically debunked the existence of any such revalidation program. He revealed that inquiries made to the NIMC confirmed that no such exercise is underway, raising red flags about the true motive behind the ongoing collection of NINs by these unidentified persons.
According to him, what is even more disturbing is the outcome of the state’s preliminary investigations, which uncovered that these actors are actually hired agents of some desperate politicians, who aim to compromise the electoral process through identity theft and voter data manipulation.
The statement further noted that the fraudulent scheme enables these criminal elements to use the NINs and the personal information of unsuspecting residents to override their Voter Cards in the national database. He added that this act, in essence, allows the fraudsters and their collaborators to generate new Voter Cards in their names using stolen identities, effectively disenfranchising the original owners in the forthcoming election season(s) in the state.
“This means that during elections, the impostors can vote with these illegally-acquired Voter Cards, while the real and legitimate owners will be denied their right to vote, as the system no longer recognizes them,” the Commissioner explained.
Describing the act as a grievous assault on democracy and the integrity of the electoral process, Dr. Mefor emphasized that this new dimension of voter data manipulation poses a significant threat to free and fair elections, especially as the 2025 general elections draw near.
He, therefore, called on Ndi Anambra to be extremely wary of anyone or any group demanding their NINs for any reason, no matter how convincing the explanation may seem. The government, he noted, will not tolerate any attempt to undermine the rights of citizens or distort the electoral system through deceitful means.
To further tackle the menace, the government has directed that any resident who is approached with such requests should immediately contact the state security emergency number, 5111, for swift intervention and apprehension of the culprits.
The Commissioner reiterated the government’s commitment to safeguarding the data, identity, and voting rights of all citizens. He warned that anyone caught participating in this fraudulent activity—either as a data collector or a political sponsor—will face the full wrath of the law.
Meanwhile, community leaders, town union executives, and traditional rulers have been urged to sensitize their people on the development, to ensure that every citizen is informed and protected against the deceptive tactics of these political data thieves.
