By Auwalu Musa Yola
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it will commence a comprehensive ward-to-ward voter registration exercise across all ten (10) wards of Gwarzo Local Government Area, beginning Monday, 2 February 2026.
The Electoral Officer of Gwarzo LGA, Alhaji Hussaini Musa Jibo, made this known during a stakeholders’ meeting organized by the Commission and held at the INEC Conference Hall, Gwarzo.
He explained that the meeting was convened to sensitize key stakeholders—including district heads, village heads, Chief Imams of Jumu’ah mosques, political party leaders, security agencies, and other relevant groups—on INEC’s plan to decentralize voter registration services to the ward level. This, he noted, is to ensure easy access for eligible voters, considering the critical role of the Permanent Voter Card (PVC) in the democratic process.
Alhaji Hussaini Musa Jibo further disclosed that the voter registration exercise would last for five (5) days in each ward upon the arrival of INEC officials. He called on residents of Gwarzo Local Government Area to cooperate fully with INEC staff to ensure the smooth and successful conduct of the exercise.
He also revealed that about three thousand (3,000) uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) belonging to residents of Gwarzo LGA are currently at the INEC office, and urged affected individuals to promptly visit the office to collect their cards.
Speaking on behalf of political parties, the Secretary of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Gwarzo, Alhaji Samaila Abdullahi, stated that valuable suggestions were offered to the Electoral Officer—particularly as he is relatively new to the local government area. These included the need for adequate network coverage to ensure seamless voter registration in the Southern, Northern, and Eastern parts of Gwarzo. He assured that political parties would mobilize their supporters and the general public to actively participate in the exercise.
Also speaking at the meeting, the District Head of Gwarzo, Sarkin Dawaki Mai Tuta of Kano, Alhaji Bello Abubakar Gwarzo, assured INEC of the full cooperation and support of all district heads and community leaders. He pledged that they would work closely with INEC officials to ensure a peaceful, orderly, and successful voter registration exercise across the local government area.
The meeting was attended by representatives of the District Head, all village heads, Chief Imams of Jumu’ah mosques, community leaders, political party representatives, heads of security agencies, officials of the Nigeria Union of Teachers (NUT), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), National Orientation Agency (NOA), the Chief Imam of Gwarzo, and other stakeholders.
