TheCable

A coalition of civil society organisations (CSOs) has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the deadline for the collection of permanent voter cards (PVC).

The coalition comprises EIE Nigeria, YIAGA Africa, Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Fix Politics, Women Advocates and Research Development Centre (WARDC), ConnectHub, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), and The Electoral College Nigeria.

On June 25, Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, said PVCs would be ready for collection in October.

Also in July, Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner, announced that cards for those registered between January 16 and June 30 will be ready in October, while cards for those who registered in July will be ready in November.

The commission had, however, later fixed December 12, 2022, to January 22, 2023, as the dates for the collection of PVCs in all the 774 LGAs.

In their joint statement, the CSOs noted that several Nigerians who visited INEC’s offices around the country have been told that their cards are not ready.

“In addition, in some places where cards are available, registered voters express frustration with the disorderliness and cumbersome nature of the PVC collection process,” the statement reads.

“In other locations, there seems to be extortion as was recorded and shared on Twitter by @samking10011 from the INEC office in Uvwie Local Government, Delta State.”

The CSOs, therefore, asked INEC to create a dedicated desk to escalate the issues for quick resolution and to create a mechanism to report INEC officials engaged in extortion or deliberately sharing misleading information to disenfranchise voters.

“Contact ALL citizens that were deleted due to double registration or any other issue so they do not waste time and resources looking for their PVCs. For those whose new registration was deleted and the old one retained, contact them so they know the correct location to pick up their PVCs,” the CSOs said.

“Make public the standard operating procedures (SOPs) for PVC collection as the public is unaware of its contents.

“Enable registered voters to check online and/or via USSD if their card is ready for pickup and the exact location of the card. For those who just registered, contact them directly via email or SMS when their cards are ready. This will help to control the crowd at INEC’s offices and decrease the unnecessary expenses and stress for citizens.

“Extend PVC collection for every day that INEC has been unprepared. As of today, PVC collection should end on Sunday, January 27th.“