Ahead of the 2019 election, the Nigeria Immigration Service has recovered not less than 700 voter cards from foreigners.

The Nigeria Immigration Service has recovered at least 700 voter cards from foreigners living in the country.   The disclosure was made by the Comptroller-General of Immigration, Muhammad Babandede while speaking at the 2018 NIS awards presentation in Abuja on Friday night.   He explained that the agency had improved on its capacity to further secure the borders ahead of the 2019 elections.   He said, “We have built the capacity of personnel and improved on structures and contributed to Nigeria’s security and prosperity in many ways.“This year, we have retrieved over 700 voter cards from non-Nigerians. We will be there during elections to ensure that non-Nigerians don’t participate; We will make sure that they don’t vote and they are not voted for.”   The CG pointed out that the N7.1 billion technology building under construction would impact on the operation and data management of the NIS. “The approval of the technology building worth N7.1 billion by President Muhammadu Buhari will serve all law enforcement agencies where we will share such information online with partners,” he said.   Babandede explained that the awards to deserving NIS officers were meant to encourage and motivate them to work harder and deliver on the mandate of the service.   The CG said his administration would not condone laziness and indiscipline by NIS personnel, noting that a number of officers were sanctioned for misconduct during the year.