The Director Voter Education and Publicity of the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Victor Aluko, has restated
that no one will be allowed to vote without their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs0
in todays Presidential and National Assembly elections.
Aluko, who was speaking on Channels Television’s The 2023
Verdict on Friday evening, said the
commission had not reviewed its position, describing as fake news, reports that
people could approach the polling units without their voter cards.
“INEC has not reviewed that slogan. No PVC, no voting. It
still subsists. And we have been drumming into the ears of Nigerians, that they
should please ignore these social media posts that are circulating everywhere.
Today, when our chairman was responding, he just said it’s fake news. And of
course, there are a lot of fake news around today.
“At election periods like these, we should let Nigerians
have the facts, the basic facts, so that it would help their participation. If
you do not have the PVC, you cannot even come to our polling units. The
election officials will not allow you to join the queue. And if you want to
forcefully come into the place, the Presiding Officer will inform the security
agencies to deal with the person.
“So, it is good that
we deal with the facts, it is good that we follow what INEC has said, rather
than what some fake INEC officials are saying. No PVC, no voting. PVC is at the
centre of our operations.”
Aluko also said that the commission was expecting only the
87.2 million voters who had their PVCs at the polls, adding that those who
could not get the cards, would have to wait to vote at the next elections
cycle.
“87.2 million Nigerians have PVCs, out of 93.4 million
registered voters. Those are the people we are expecting in our polling units.
Anybody who was not able to collect the PVC, it is not a crime. In future, they
can still collect their PVCs and vote, life continues, there will be life after
these elections.
“During the CVR, we encouraged those who lost their cards,
even those whose cards were spoilt, just tell us in INEC, we will give you
another one free of charge. So, those who did so, got new cards. Anybody who
did not do so, did not want to do, and so in future they can still do that.
“If out of the 87.2 million Nigerians who have PVCs, if we
can get 80% of them to vote tomorrow, that will be a great thing for the
country. We are ready to receive them at our polling units. So, we are
preparing for those who have PVCs, and we are not really bothered at this time,
about those who do not have PVCs. So, if you don’t have PVC, don’t even come to
the polling unit,” he said.
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