With less than eight weeks to the country’s general elections,over 6.7 million Nigerians are yet to collect their permanent voter cards.
The INEC had previously announced that the collection window for PVCs will take effect from December 12,2022 and end on January 22.
However, data obtained from the state offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission on Tuesday revealed that 6.7 m PVCs were locked up in INEC safes across 17 states and the Federal Capital Territory.
The INEC National Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, disclosed in a statement that with effect from January 6 -15,2023 the collection of the PVCs will be devolved to the ward level after which collection would be moved to the local government areas.
INEC’s Director of Voter Education, Lagos State, Mrs Adenike Tadeshe, noted that about 14,000 people collect their voter cards daily, noting that the commission would soon take the PVCs distribution to the wards..
She said, “I will not say we have a huge number of uncollected PVCs. Looking at the figures, as of December 29, 2022 we have given out 5,816,528 PVCs, so we are now left with 1,693,963 and we want to put in record that on a daily basis in Lagos State, we give out about 14,000 PVCs so the number will keep reducing.
‘’Now, by January 15 and 16, we will be taking the cards to all the 245 wards in Lagos State and from there to the local government areas, so this will bring the cards closer to the people for collection.”
The PDP National Publicity Secretary, Debo Ologunagba, said the party had been encouraging Nigerians to go for their voter cards.
The APC National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, noted that the party expected registered voters to go back to the collection centres to pick up their PVCs.
Expressing his concern over the huge unclaimed voter cards Morka said, “I understand that people are very busy; we hope as a party that those Nigerians who have taken time to register will realise that of all the things they have to do, this is one of the most important duties: to go out to vote and select those who govern them. The country belongs to every Nigerian and that duty is the one that we hope that they exercise and take seriously.”
The APC spokesman said the ruling party has been mobilizing people to collect their PVCs irrespective of the party they would vote for.
“They need to go out there because without it they can’t even vote; that will mean that they are disenfranchising themselves,’’ he added.
Morka, however, asserted that the credibility of the elections cannot be undermined by the number of voters who didn’t pick their PVCs as the number is lower than those who had collected theirs.
(THE PUNCH)
