It was a development foretold. With the first ballot of the 2023 general elections just about 26 days away, it was apparent that many eligible voters were at the risk of being disenfranchised because of their inability to collect their Permanent Voter Cards.
Last week, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of over 70 groups working in support of credible and transparent elections in the country, took it upon itself to urge the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend its deadline for the collection of the available PVCs.
The Situation Room in a statement said it was worried that timelines given to people who had been asked to return to collect their PVCs “are unrealistic and would lead to disenfranchisement.”
The group noted that going by INEC’s calendar on the distribution of PVCs, the Local Government Area distribution at INEC offices will end on January 29, 2023.
“The Situation Room has recorded numerous complaints on issues surrounding the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) at the Ward level distribution. The majority of the complaints bordered on the unavailability of PVCs for both new and old registrants without a future date for collection.
In some Wards, people were asked to return in February. “There were also reports of INEC staff not permanently located at the Wards during the exercise. In most States, the staff were roving from Ward to Ward without a clear schedule for visit to Wards and when people turned up, they were absent.
An exception is in Edo State where a schedule for PVC collection was published and disseminated on social media to enable registrants to know where to collect their PVCs and dates for collection.
“Based on the above premise, Situation Room reiterates its call on INEC to reconsider the 29th January 2023 deadline for PVC Collection at the LGA level to accommodate the large number of Nigerians who are yet to collect their PVC not out of their own refusal but due to the various reasons they have been given by the Commission on why their PVC has not been printed.
An extension would also give INEC time to print PVCs for the many registrants whose PVCs were not printed,” the group had argued Happily, the Situation Room did not just canvas for the extension of the date for the collection of PVCs. It also raised the issue of conducting a “Mock Election” to enable voters to get used to the working of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, popularly called BVAS.
It argued that the mock elections should be held in locations that include both urban and rural settings to enable voters to see the functionality of the BVAS in practice and have some experience of what to expect on Election Day.
“This would help INEC identify possible challenges and prepare to address them ahead of the elections, especially in geo-political zones where they have never been used before,” the statement read. INEC, subsequently, extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs to February 5, 2023.
“WE MUST COMMEND THE INDEPENDENT NATIONAL ELECTORAL COMMISSION FOR DISPLAYING A COMMENDABLE SENSE OF GOOD JUDGMENT. THIS IS LIKE HEEDING THE VOICE OF REASON AND NOTHING COULD BE MORE ENCOURAGING TO THE VOTERS. IT IS LIKE THE ELECTORAL UMPIRE IS READING THE TEMPERATURE IN THE POLITICAL ARENA. IT KNOWS THAT MANY NIGERIANS WANT TO EXERCISE THEIR VOTING RIGHT NEXT MONTH WHICH IS JUST TWO DAYS AWAY AND HELPING THEM TO REALISE THAT DREAM IS COMMENDABLE”
It would be the second time the electoral umpire would be doing that. INEC had earlier extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs. INEC stated through its National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, that the one-week extension followed a meeting of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners.
“Arising from reports from the various States and discussions with Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission has decided to further extend PVC collection in all its Local Government Offices nationwide by an additional one week. The ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide will therefore continue and end on 5th February 2023,” Okoye said in a statement on Saturday. “This is the second time the Commission is extending PVC collection nationwide and this will be the last extension of the exercise.
The collection period has further been extended by an additional two hours and will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.”
INEC in granting the request by the Situation Room called on Nigerians to report sharp practices in PVC collection centres, assuring that the Commission will act on them. “The Commission will continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and will ensure that no Nigerian is disadvantaged and all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs,” it said.
A senior lecturer at the Department of Political Science, Delta State University, Dennis Okagbare, described it as a welcome development and the heeding of the voice of reason. He told The Point that INEC has so far demonstrated that it was ready to conduct a free, fair and credible election. He urged the electorate to cooperate fully with the electoral umpire.
“We must commend the Independent National Electoral Commission for displaying a commendable sense of good judgment. This is like heeding the voice of reason and nothing could be more encouraging to the voters. It is like the electoral umpire is reading the temperature in the political arena.
It knows that many Nigerians want to exercise their voting right next month which is just two days away and helping them to realise that dream is commendable. “Then I want to also commend the Situation Room. When all hands are on deck, we will get better electoral results.
But I also want to advise the INEC to always check to see if there are saboteurs in the system. You can never tell. As far as I am concerned, only the security situation poses a challenge now and it is not everywhere. If INEC can map out those areas that have challenges, it will minimize possible setbacks arising from insecurity,” he stated. On what to expect during the February 25 election, Okagbare said the turnout will be huge.
He hinged his prediction on the fact that there is a new wave of political awareness in the country that cannot be dismissed with a wave of the hand just now. “I am for seeing a huge turnout in the February 25 election. There are three possible reasons.
First, the umpire has been able to assure the people that their votes will count because it will be using a new system that will make it impossible for anybody to snatch ballot boxes, stuff them and manipulate the results at the collation centre. That assurance alone will make people come out to vote. “Second thing is that there is a new set of voters who are very angry at the system. I mean the youths.
They want to make their voices heard and change the system not just to favour themselves, but to favour everybody. And the third one is the fact that now, people will be looking beyond just All Progressives Congress and the People’s Democratic Party.
The third party now has a recognizable face in the person of Peter Obi. So, the election will be very interesting,” he stated. About two weeks ago, INEC moved the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards until Sunday, January 29, 2023. The deadline was initially fixed for Sunday, January 22, 2023.
After a meeting by the INEC, it said it had pushed the deadline by eight days. “The Commission is determined to ensure that registered voters have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming election. For this reason, the timeframe for the collection of PVCs is extended by eight days,” INEC’s Festus Okoye said in a statement then.
He explained that “Instead of ending on Sunday January 22, 2023, the collection of PVCs will continue until Sunday January 29, 2023. At the moment, the period of collection is 9.00 am – 3.00 pm daily (including Saturdays and Sundays).
The Commission is encouraged by the turnout of registered voters and the surge in the number of collected PVCs across the country. In some of the states, as many as 100,000 PVCs were collected in the last five days since the devolution to ward level started on Saturday, January 6, 2023. “The Commission is determined to ensure that registered voters have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming election.
For this reason, the timeframe for the collection of PVCs is extended by eight days.” The Executive Director of Yiaga Africa, Samson Itodo, while making a similar call on INEC recently to extend the date for collection of PVCs at the “Yiaga Africa Watching the Vote” media roundtable in Abuja said, “Sufficient PVCs have not been collected.
INEC should consider further extension of the PVC collection to enable people to collect their PVC because Nigerians are determined to vote in the next elections. And we at Yiaga Africa; what we are doing is providing information, public education and ensuring that people have the information that is required to participate in elections.
“We also want to limit election manipulation through trade analysis, protect the integrity of the 2023 elections to data-driven election observation and provide technical support to marginalised groups which are on the ballot for the 2023 elections, especially women, youths and persons with disability,” he said.
