Immigration to foreigners: vote and go to jail

King Ekpedeme, the head of the service in Lagos gave the warning during a phone chat with our Correspondent on Friday. He said that the NIS had in the past five months engaged leaders of foreign nationals especially those from the Economic Community of West and Central African States (ECOWAS), (ECCAS) to speak to their people on the need to stay out of Nigeria’s elections. Ekpedeme also said the service had retrieved several Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) from none Nigerians, adding that it has emplaced mechanisms to forestall foreigners from taking part in the exercise. He said: “Lagosians should not be worried about the possibility of foreign nationals voting in this election. Already, the borders have been closed today and the NIS had been retrieving PVCs from non-Nigerians. “Also, we have had several engagements with the leaders of our brothers from neighbouring countries who have spoken to their nationals and assured us they will not come out in election. “We have also made it clear that anyone found will be prosecuted and afterwards deported to their country. I want to believe that the message has been well received by them. This election is for Nigerians only and none Nigerians should stay in their homes.“]]>