International human rights capacity-building NGO, Global Rights Nigeria, has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to improve access to the collection of permanent voter cards (PVCs) by registered and eligible Nigerians.
Global Rights, in a statement issued by its Executive Director, Abiodun Baiyewu, said INEC needs to improve the efficiency of logistics for the collection of PVCs so that Nigerians can exercise their right and responsibility.
The civil society group expressed concerns that the logistics for the distribution of the cards have been hampered by hiccups in the management process.
INEC had earlier announced that registered voters could pick up their PVCs between 12 December, 2022, and 22 January, 2023, and later announced 29 January, 2023 as the new deadline.
The commission also lamented recently that it had recorded a low turnout for the collection of PVCs despite a week extension of the deadline.
It said about 6.7 million eligible voters had yet to collect their PVCs across 17 states, including the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, as of 04 January, 2023.
‘While we acknowledge the efforts of the commission in ensuring that no citizen is disenfranchised in the forthcoming elections, which are just a few weeks away, we are concerned about the needless hurdles Nigerians are being subjected to in obtaining their permanent voter cards.
‘In our monitoring of the situation across the nation, we noted multiple challenges which created bottlenecks in the collection process’.
It said that INEC’s failure to resolve these issues to date suggests that a sizeable number of voters may not receive their PVCs before the new deadline elapses and thus will be unable to cast their votes.
The statement further read, ‘For instance, while monitoring PVC collection centres in the Federal Capital Territory, we noted that while the collection process has been smooth in some locations, the situation in other locations, serving larger populations, leaves much to be desired.
‘Similar trends were noted in other states, including Lagos and Nasarawa states’.
The group also commended the resilience and patriotic enthusiasm displayed by citizens in collecting their PVCs, which is an indication of their willingness to be active at the polls.
Source: Vanguard
