INEC speaks on uncollected PVCs

By Dooyum Naadzenga

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has finally spoken on the lingering issue of unclaimed Voter Cards across the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory insisting that it would ensure those who registered collects their cards to be able to exercise their franchise .

This came on the heels of a report that the commission planes to destroy unclaimed Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) having spent billions of tax payers monies on the exercise .

This position was contained in a statement on INEC’s X handle while reacting to allegations of a plan to withdraw and destroy PVCs that remain uncollected for a decade.

Describing it as ‘incorrect’, INEC restated commitment to ensure collection.

The report had said that the recommendation was among 208 proposals arising from the Commission’s review of the 2023 general elections. It said the move stemmed from the persistent issue of unclaimed PVCs, with over six million cards still uncollected as of the 2023 elections, including many issued as far back as 2015.

“Following the publication of the Register of Voters, the commission made available the PVCs for collection by voters on December 12, 2022. The exercise was initially planned to end on the 22nd of January 2023. However, the fact that a huge number of registered voters had yet to collect their PVCs forced the commission to extend the deadline to the 5th of February 2023 after devolving the collection to the ward level between January 6-15, 2023, to ease the process.

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“The low rate of PVC collection and other related challenges are illustrative of the problem of processing and managing voters in Nigeria. To increase the rate of collection of PVCs, the commission implemented a policy that made it possible for voters to locate their PVCs online and subsequently pick them up. Several CSOs supported the commission’s drive to increase PVC collection by working with INEC’s state/FCT offices to record all uncollected PVCs and to inform their owners where and how to collect them,” the report claimed.

However, INEC, in a statement on its X account on advised the public to disregard the information as it does not represent the position of the commission .