Abia State Govt Denies Biometric Verification Of Traditional Rulers, Says It Means “Manual Enumeration

By Sola Omoniyi, Lagos

Abia State Government has clarified the news making rounds about Traditional Rulers subjected to biometric verification.

It was earlier reported that the State Govt plans to have a biometric verification exercise for Traditional Rulers in the state.

However, in a statement released by Gov Otti’s Special Adviser on Media and publicity, Ferdinand Ekeoma, the State Government tagged the said report as fake as well as revealing that what it meant was manual enumeration.

“Kindly disregard the FAKE news being peddled by some opposition elements that Abia Traditional Rulers are to be subjected to Biometric Verification Exercise,” he stated

“In a bid to ascertain the exact number of Traditional Rulers and their Autonomous communities which would guide the government in its welfare packages for the Traditional institution, the Alex Otti led-government through the Ministry of Local Government and Chieftaincy Affairs decided to carry out a MANUAL ENUMERATION of all Traditional Rulers.

“This hitch-free exercise which has already excited the affected Traditional Rulers does not involve any form of Biometric and does not require them to gather anywhere, rather each is required to fill a form that would contain his Biodata and other important information.

“It’s understandable why the opposition is trying to distort the facts of this exercise; they were not used to being thorough to the point of appreciating the importance of data, neither did they pay attention to the welfare of Traditional Rulers and their communities when they were in power.

“The Alex Otti led-government would continue to be intentional in taking actions and decisions that would have lasting positive effects on the state and its people,” it added