Some sets of identical twins and other multiple
births in the country have called on President
Goodluck Jonathan to intervene in stopping the
mass discrimination against them by the
Independent National Electoral Commission’s
biometric system.
They alleged that currently about 1,000 sets of
identical twins in the country have been denied
their Permanent Voter Cards due to failure of
the INEC’s biometric machines to distinguish their
identities.
Joint Presidents of United Twins and Multiple
Births for Transformation in Nigeria, Akpos
Mamuzee-Dixon and Andos Mamuzee-Dixon, who
are themselves twins, addressed journalists in
Abuja on the problem on Thursday.
Other sets of twins, who said they were facing
similar problems, attended the press conference.
Akpos and Andos are musicians and actors.
According to them, while Akpos has got his PVC,
Andos was not given because of the inability of
INEC’s biometric machine to distinguish them.
In their letter dated November 25 and addressed
to the INEC chairman, Prof. Atahiru Jeega, they
threatened to institute a N1bn law suit against
INEC “if within 14 days from the date of your
receipt of this letter, you fail, refuse to carry
out our modest demands.”
But they said all their attempts to get remedy,
including the letter they wrote to Jega through
their lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome (SAN), had
yielded no result.
Akpos said, “When we got to the point of our
registration in Wuse Zone 7, Akpos presented his
Temporary Voter Card, and they found his name
on the list and they gave him his PVC.
But when it
was my turn, they said they could not find my
name on the list despite providing my temporary
card.
They asked to search for my name in other
centres. We did but we could not find my name.
“We were then asked to go to Karu. When we got
to Karu a woman who was an INEC official told us
that when they saw the pictures of the two of us
and they decided to keep one of the cards on the
assumption that it was the same person who was
being fraudulent by registering twice.”
They said each or both of many sets of twins in
the country have been denied their PVCs and
would be likely disenfranchised if urgent step was
not taken. “Is it now a crime to be twins? I have
no apology for being a twin or being identical with
my twin. President Goodluck Jonathan must
intervene in this.
The essence of biometric system is to distinguish
persons. If INEC machine cannot distinguish us as
different persons then, with due respect, INEC
has failed.” Akpos and Andos have threatened to
sue INEC as the commission had failed to respond
to their letter dated November 25, 2014.
They called on INEC to immediately provide Andos
his PVC to enable him perform his fundamental
and civil obligation as enshrined in Section 12(1)
of the Electoral Act, 2011. In the letter written
on their behalf by Ozekhome’s law firm, the twins
further demanded N20m as compensation for the
trauma, psychological depression and feeling of
societal rejection they have been made to pass
through with the denial of Ando’s PVC.
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