The collection of PVCs will now take place from 9am to 6pm daily from Friday till Monday.
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has
extended the deadline of the collection of permanent voters’ cards (PVC)
till Monday, February 11, 2019.
This was announced by the commission’s chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu,
in a statement on Friday, February 8, the initial deadline of
collection. The extended time also covers Saturday, February 9, and
Sunday, February 10.
“The collection of PVCs will now take place from 9am to 6pm daily,” the statement read.
Prof Yakubu also charged all INEC
state offices to review the procedure for the collection of PVCs and
dedicate all the staff of the Local Government offices to the collection
process.
“The Commission wishes to reassure
Nigerians that we will continue to take every necessary step to ensure
that no registered voter is disenfranchised on account of non-collection
of PVCs,” he said.
INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu
Even though Yakubu had previously assured that
the deadline of collection would be a week before the election, many
Nigerians have complained about the unavailability of their cards
despite registering months ago.
A lot of Nigerians took to social media to
complain that their cards were not ready when they went to their
respective INEC centres on Friday.
In response, Yakubu said urgent steps will be taken to solve the problem before the new Monday deadline.
He said, “Similarly, the
Commission is taking urgent steps to address complaints of
unavailability of the PVCs of some registered voters before the end the
deadline for the collection.
“We wish to reiterate that after the
deadline of Monday 11th February 2019, all uncollected PVCs will be
recalled and deposited with the CBN for safe-keeping until after the
General Elections when the collection of cards and the continuous
registration of voters will resume.”
2019 general elections
The 2019 general elections will kick off with
the Presidential and National Assembly elections on February 16 while
Governorship and State Assembly elections will take place on March 2.
A total of 84,004,084 are registered to vote in the elections.