BREAKING: Global Rights calls on INEC to improve access to PVC collection

WITH less than 40 days to the 2023 general elections, Global Rights, Thursday, called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to improve access to a collection of Permanent Voter Cards, PVC, by registered and eligible Nigerians.

The call was contained in a statement signed by Executive Director, of Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, and made available to Vanguard, where Global Rights pointed out that the only way Nigerians can exercise their right and responsibility is for INEC to improve on the efficiency of logistics for the collection of PVCs.

The statement reads in part, “Notwithstanding the fact that we commend INEC for extending the dates for the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) both at the Ward level and Local Government Secretariat levels, we are concerned that the logistics for the distribution of the cards have been hampered by hiccups in the management of the process.

“Recall that INEC had announced registered voters could pick up their PVCs between December 12th, 2022, and January 22nd, 2023, and subsequently at the 8,809 Registration Areas/Wards from the 6th of January to the 15th of January 2023 between the hours of 9am and 3pm every day, including Saturdays and Sundays.

“Relatedly, INEC had on January 4, 2023, revealed that no fewer than 6.7 million Nigerians were yet to collect their PVCs across 17 states. As at December 20th 2022, 231,900 registered voters were yet to pick up their PVCs in Gombe State. As at December 29th 2022, 1,693,963 PVCs were yet to be collected in Lagos State, and 661,783 in Edo state.

“Other states with a sizeable catalogue of uncollected voters cards included Oyo (700,000), Ogun (400,000), Imo (300,000), Kogi (160,966), Kwara (120,602), and Borno (80,117).

“In the FCT, 460,643 PVCs had not been collected as at December 24th 2022. INEC also revealed that the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC) had the highest number of uncollected PVCs in the FCT.”

However, Global Rights Nigeria expressed worry that there is a possibility of many Nigerians being disenfranchised if nothing is done to safeguard their right to vote.

“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 voters cards. In our monitoring of the situation across the nation, we noted multiple challenges which created bottlenecks in the collection process.

“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.

“For instance, while monitoring PVCs 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.

We, therefore, call INEC’s attention to some of the specific difficulties that several duly registered voters in the Federal Capital Territory have encountered while attempting to obtain their PVCs.

Meanwhile, the statement 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.

But it added that, “It would be an unacceptable disservice to Nigeria’s fledgling democracy for INEC to disenfranchise willing and eligible voters due to a flawed collection process, as their continued frustration may trigger their resignation and deepen distrust for the electoral process.

“We, therefore, urge INEC to hastily resolve these challenges in order to enable citizens to fulfill their civic obligation as the extended PVC collection deadline draws near. This has become not only relevant but imperative to addressing the recurrent issue of voter apathy that has characterized elections in Nigeria.

“We will continue to monitor the process and call on Nigerians not to relent in the face of structural inhibitions but rather to demand accountability for smooth, transparent, free and fair elections in Nigeria.”