The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said voter
cards not collected by their owners before February 8 will be kept in
‘quarantine’ in the Central Bank of Nigeria.
Speaking with Punch on Friday, the commission’s Chairman of
Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, wondered why
those who own the cards had not collected them.
He said, “the reports from different states indicate that many
Nigerians have collected their Permanent Voters Cards. Most Nigerians
are aware that the commission registered a total of 84, 004,084 eligible
voters.“Out of this number 14, 283,734 million were registered during the
Continuous Voters’ Registration. The collection of PVCs is still on and
will go on till February 8. Thereafter, the commission will recall all
uncollected PVCs and keep them in quarantine with the Central Bank of
Nigeria and they will remain there till the elections are over.“It is difficult to give the exact number of PVCs that have been
collected so far. The collection of PVCs is still taking place in the
774 local government areas. After the February 8, 2019 deadline, the
commission will recall all uncollected PVCs and give an account of the
number collected and the number yet to be collected.“Nigerians will be informed about the PVC collection data and the
commission is committed to a transparent process. We urge Nigerians to
approach INEC offices in their LGAs and collect their PVCs.”
Asked how many PVCs had yet to be collected and what INEC was doing
to address the situation, the INEC chief said, “The commission has
insisted and will continue to insist that registered voters must collect
their PVCs personally and there will not be collection by proxy.
The commission printed 14, 283,734 million voter cards for new
registrants and printed replacement cards for those that lost their
voter cards and those whose cards are defaced.”
He said INEC had a consolidated register with a total of 84, 004,084
registered voters, adding that since it was a huge database of
registered voters, the commission had done well in registering
Nigerians.
“The law provides the period for those that want to change their
polling units to do so. The PVCs of these category of persons are
different. They must comply with the provisions of the law before they
will be cleared to move to new polling units.”
