Aggrieved Group Gave INEC 48 Hours To Produce Their Voters Cards Or Face Legal Action
By Madu Mohammed Maiduguri
A group under the umbrella or Aggrieved Registered Voters (ARV), have threatened to constitute legal action against the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) if they failed to give them their Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) as they would allow them to disenfranchise them on the bases of their parts or party they belong to.
Addressing journalists at the NUJ Press Centre on Sunday, the spokesman of the group, Engr Ishaku Yakubu said “We have given the INEC 48 hours to give us our Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) or we take a legal action.”
They called the INEC to caution its staff that have been telling people that they won’t get their cards till after elections, stressing that they have evidence of such utterance).
The group said “.We demand first and foremost that INEC make a public declaration that they will provide all PVCs duly registered which they claim has not been printed. This should not end at just a promise those cards should be printed and distributed as appropriate, Secondly, that the deadline should not affect those who for no fault of their have not been able to get their cards.”
“The many persons you see here this afternoon and a host of many others who have not been able to collect their Permanent Voters’ Cards having duly registered and found our names in the INEC official Electronic Voter Register.”, Yakubu added.
The group further said ” some may wonder why waited till now to raise this concern, we appreciate the obvious effort INEC and its officials have been doing , We all trust and hope that we would get our PVCs before the deadline but sadly, today is the official deadline for collection of PVCs with no announcement regarding any extension but INEC in Borno state is still telling people to go and come back.”.
“We have people in their thousands (including myself) who have been going to the INEC offices for collection of their PVCs registered under the most difficult situations and inconvenience but are yet to get it. INEC has previously announced to the media that all PVCs are ready for collection and lament how Nigerians are not coming out, meanwhile we queue up at their offices and ward levels to get PVCs only to be told “your PVC is not ready, come back in 3 days, come back in one week” and stories like that.
We have reasons to believe that there is a sinister plan to disenfranchise thousands of people as there appears to be no reason for holding up the PVCs, the group said.
Engr Yakubu also said ” all of us here and many others who registered, transferred of requested for replacement of lost/damaged cards particularly last year (2022) between May and July have not been given their PVCs. Today is final deadline according to INEC and people are being asked to go and come back”
“On a phone call with the Head of the Voter Education in Borno, he didn’t sound any different from what we have been told since 12th December, 2022. He pointed that everyone has gotten their PVCs except those who did double registration but this is far from reality. We have in this hall people who did something as simple as update, transfer of polling unit or request for lost card who are yet to collect their PVCs and these run into thousands who are willing and have been going to INEC offices and their cards cannot be found,” the group further accused.
Also speaking, Ahmed Malgei said we have been going to the INEC office severally but they have been in telling to come back in 3 days since 12th December, 2022.
Reacting, the Borno state Resident Electoral Commission (REC), Alhaji Mohammed Ibrahim said anybody who does not see his PVC should fill a complain form and their complains would be forwarded to INEC head office, Abuja.
Anybody that do not get his PVC, there is window, they should go to the INEC office where they registered ABC fill a complain form for inward submission to INEC headquarter.
The allegations that some INEC staff are telling them that they should wait for 2027 to cast their votes, the REC said any INEC found guilty would dealt with.
