The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Permanent Voter Cards

  • Youth group to collaborate with INEC on PVCs collection

    An NGO, Young Leaders Empowerment Forum on Monday said it was making arrangements with the  INEC on collaboration with the  Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to enable them to fully participate in the 2019 general elections.

    Mrs Oluwafolake Kolawole, Lagos Coordinator of the Forum, told the News men in Lagos that it was important for the youth to utilise the opportunity of the ongoing continuous voter registration to obtain their PVCs.

    Kolawole said such move would enable the youth to actively get involved in constructive political discussions and governance.

    “The forum is in talks with the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to work out how more youths will get registered before the end of the current phase of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR).

    “Many youths who are in the middle class category, are usually at work when the CVR is taking place; they have no time to go and register. Even those who have registered are not able to get their PVCs due to lack of time.

    “Our forum is working out how to address this challenge so that many youth will be actively involved, vote and be voted for.

    Read Also: Alleged Kano underage voters: INEC not culpable

    “We have always been told that the youth are the future of Nigeria, and the only way to secure this future is to get involved in electoral process; get our PVCs and take our destinies into our hands.

    “This coming election is our opportunity to change things,” she said.

    Kolawole said the forum would also be organising a public lecture on Electoral Participation of youth with the topic – ‘Politics of Sustainable Development in Nigeria, Exploring the Inclusion of the Middle Class in the Dominant Discourse’.

    “The event which will hold on May 19 in Ikeja will feature political analysts who will educate the youths on the need to be actively involved in electoral processes.

    “Your vote is your right. It is your power, we are appealing to our youth to choose to exercise that power because it determines what kind of future we will have as a nation,” Kolawole said.

    NAN

     

  • Ekiti 2018: YIAGA deploys 24 observers to monitor CVR

    Ekiti 2018: YIAGA deploys 24 observers to monitor CVR

    Youth Initiative for Advocacy Growth and Advancement ( YIAGA ) said it had deployed 24 personnel to Ekiti to monitor the Continuous Voter Registration ( CVR ) ahead of the July 14 governorship poll.

    The group’s Executive Director, Mr Samson Itodo, said in a statement on Tuesday in Abuja that the objective of the mission was to assess the processes of the CVR.

    Itodo said that the observers would also verify the functionality of the Direct Data Capturing ( DDC ) machine, and check the level of compliance with Independent National Electoral Commission ( INEC ) guidelines.

    He recalled that INEC had announced that it would decentralise the CVR to the 177 Wards in Ekiti from Tuesday to April 18.

    Itodo said that the exercise was designed to update the voter register with the registration of citizens who turned 18 years after the last voter registration or those who couldn’t register before.

    “Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards ( PVCs ) will also be distributed during the exercise and issues relating to transfer of registered voters, lost, damaged or omitted PVCs will be addressed during the exercise.

    “YIAGA Africa will be deploying its “Watching the Vote ( WTV )’’ citizen-observers to observe the continuous voter registration.

    Read Also: Ekiti 2018: Britain warns politicians against violence

    “For the CVR in Ekiti, YIAGA WTV is deploying 24 accredited citizen-observers to rotationally observe the process in each of the 16 local government areas.

    “This is to cover at least 72 wards out of the 177 wards in the state where the CVR will be conducted,’’ he said.

    Itodo said that the observers would send reports via coded text message on their mobile phones.

    He explained that the reports would be received directly into a sophisticated database located at the YIAGA Africa’s WTV Data Centre in Abuja “for review, verification and analysis’’.

    Itodo said that the group would issue interim reports on the process based on reports from its observers, which would be shared with the public, INEC, political parties, civic society organizations and other stakeholders.

    He said that YIAGA would also provide timely and accurate information on the conduct of the CVR, PVC distribution and transfer of registered voters.

    He said that WTV was a citizen-led election observation initiative aimed at enhancing the integrity of elections using technology and evidence-based research methodology for election observation.

    NAN

  • PVCs and order of elections

    If, truly, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had threatened to destroy 7.5 million unclaimed permanent voter cards (PVCs), the problem facing both the commission and citizens whose citizenship rights may be curtailed if about 20% of PVCs are undeliverable to their owners should be a source of major concern to many people.

    A hallmark of representative government is protection of citizens’ right to choose those who govern them. Most democratic polities see the freedom of citizens to choose as a sacrosanct element of democracy and a necessary condition for legitimacy of any government that claims to be democratic.  Such conviction explains why many democratic societies worry about threats to free and fair election. Compromising the integrity of elections in a functioning democracy includes any form of disenfranchisement, i.e. failure of the agency responsible for democratic elections to ensure that every citizen who registers to vote is provided with the certification that is needed to participate in elections.

    In democratic countries with proper organisation and logistics, registering to vote is generally seamless for the agency in charge of election and for citizens desiring to exercise the right to vote. For example, in North America and Western Europe, it is possible for citizens to indicate their interest in obtaining voting cards in the same place they obtain or renew their driving license or where they obtain or receive library cards. Citizens also receive voting cards through their postal addresses, without having to hustle for voting cards, as millions of Nigerians often do during election season. Most streets in the country have no postal addresses because there are no street names. The postal service is believed by many citizens to have withered immediately after the rise of digital economy.  Postal service is still active even in epicentres of digital civilisation. But in Nigeria, citizens are required to go to specified registration centres to first register and later return to collect PVC.

    Providing voter cards for citizens with a population of about 100 million eligible voters is certainly an onerous task. It is therefore not surprising that INEC is, less than one year to the 2019 national elections, still saddled with 7.5 million unclaimed PVCs. This must be the highest number of unclaimed PVCs since 1999. It is no longer news that millions of people in the Southwest could not collect their PVCs before the 2015 elections, with the result that the number of voters in 2015 was not proportional to the population of the region at that time, when compared with the other five regions. If over 1.5 million potential voters in Lagos State cannot obtain their voting cards a few months before the 2019 elections, the South-West may suffer the same fate that it did in 2015. Despite efforts of political parties to assist their members to register, making voting card available to each citizen of voting age is a right for all citizens and should not be treated as party matters only.

    INEC needs to explain why many millions of voters cannot obtain their cards in the third month of 2018. Citizens in the South-West have made their own problems known in many ways: letters to the editor; comments on the radio; and complaints by citizens at centres dedicated to collection of PVCs. Grievances of potential voters include crowded collection units and queues  that are too long for citizens to balance with demands of their jobs; failure of INEC staff to start work before 10 a.m. and their unwillingness to stay beyond 5 p.m.; longer distance than in previous elections between PVC collection centres and residential or work addresses of potential voters. A close family member of this writer had gone to collection centres several times in the last few weeks, without being able to collect her PVC, after moving on the long queue for four or more hours. No excuse should be acceptable for INEC, if just one citizen is unable to obtain a card with which to vote, let alone having over seven million uncollected PVCs that INEC is threatening to destroy, if not collected. For example, MKO Abiola Gardens with close to 400 housing units had a centre for residents for 1999, 2003, 2007, 2011, and 2015 elections. It does not have a place within the estate to register or collect voter cards this election season.

    As a creation of military government, INEC has existed for barely two decades, thus making the commission’s use of military language sound attractive to INEC officials. While it is not surprising that the agency uses a language register that makes it look like an agency doing citizens a favour, it needs to be stressed that INEC exists to serve the interest of every voter. It is wrong for the agency to threaten destruction of PVCs when it has not shown any evidence that it has addressed citizens’ complaints about collecting PVCs in different parts of the country effectively. In the short run, the challenge for INEC is to expand and improve facilities for citizens to collect their PVCs without undue hardship, such as they currently experience.

    And in the long run, the legislature ought to re-conceptualise and re-energise the commission to strengthen the agency to function as its counterparts in other functioning democracies do. The agency should not have to conduct too many elections between national elections as it now does, gubernatorial elections out of season because election petitions were not settled as they should have been by the judicial wing of government at the end of past elections. Apart from by- elections arising from death or infirmity, INEC should be allowed to concentrate on getting ready for national elections every four years, not to spread its energy to conduct other elections that seem to wear the agency out. There is need for a creative response to scattered governorship elections that had plagued the country for too long.

    Relatedly, news about ‘face-off’ between the presidency and the legislature with regards to proper order of elections is, to use popular parlance, an unnecessary overheating of the polity. There should have been no reason for this, if the country has not failed to improve voter literacy well enough for citizens to be able to cope with the heavy paper work of conducting all elections on the same day. There is no good reason why both federal and state elections cannot hold on the same day. Both the presidency and the legislature have good reasons to be concerned about fear of Bandwagon Effect. Nigerians have shown on several occasions, as they do by waiting in long lines to collect PVCs, that they are ready to make the sacrifice required to sustain free and fair elections. Those who were adults in the 1970s would remember that the fear of Bandwagon Effect was the beginning of political wisdom in the era of National Party of Nigeria (NPN). We need to do what other democracies do: conduct all national and state elections on the same day to allay genuine fears on all sides of the political spectrum.

    Nothing is likely to be lost should INEC hire three sets of electoral workers to work uninterrupted for 24 hours on election day: from 6am to 2pm; 2pm to 10pm; and from 10pm to 6am; and another two sets to complete counting and collating on the second day. Though literacy rate in Nigeria is lower than that of many countries in Africa, the average voter can still cope with the complexity of voting for five positions: president, senator, member of House of Representatives, governor, and state assembly representative on the same day. Citizens can benefit from special training on how to manage the stress of such intensive voting, if they are convinced that it is the best way to avoid anything that can compromise free and transparent choice of voters. The fear that holding both executive and legislative elections on the same day will be too cumbersome for both voters and INEC smacks of exaggeration. For example, the population of voters in the United States is about double the number of voters in Nigeria, yet both presidential and gubernatorial, as well as Congressional elections hold on the same day.

    INEC should be strengthened financially and technologically to provide leadership for holding executive and legislative elections on the same day. One year is long enough to sensitise voters and prepare them for one-day election in 2019. INEC can ask that the day of national and state elections be a work-free one, to make it easy for logistics and for voters to concentrate on this important civic duty.

  • INEC may burn unclaimed PVCs before general elections– REC

    Dr Rufus Akeju, the new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, says the Independent National Electoral Commission is considering burning unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before the 2019 general elections.

    Akeju told newsmen on Monday in Akure  that all attempts had been made by the commission  thorough sensitisation campaign to  reach out to the affected voters  to collect their PVCs.

    He said the  commission was  making efforts almost on daily basis for voters to get their PVCs, adding that the commission may be  compelled to resort to burning of the cards or destroying them to check being used to  manipulate  elections.

    The REC said that the burning process would be made public for all Nigerians to witness.

    Akeju said that a total number of 1,659,186 are eligible voters and 1,288,722 cards had  been distributed so far, adding that 370,464 are  unclaimed.

    He also said the commission was doing everything possible to ensure  a credible election that would meet with  global best practices.

    “ We now have new and improve data capturing for moderate and effective capturing.

    “We have introduced additional card readers in case one is malfunctioning in a particular unit,’’ he said.

    The REC solicited  the support of all journalists in the state, saying  they remain  major stakeholders in educating the general public.

    He, however,  urged journalists  to report  accurately stories they gather  from INEC offices in the state without  bias.

    The Chairman of  the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Mr James Sowole,  promised that the union would continue to support the commission in its activities.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Akeju was the immediate past REC in Osun before his posting to  Ondo State. (NAN)

  • NLC tells workers to vote out defaulting governors

    NLC tells workers to vote out defaulting governors

    The President of the Nigeria Labour Congress ( NLC ), Mr Ayuba Wabba, has urged workers to get their Permanent Voter Cards ( PVCs ) to vote out state governors owing salaries and allowances.

    A statement signed by Ms Freda Ukpoju, Media Officer, Say No Campaign, a Civil Society Organisation ( CSO ), on Tuesday quoted Wabba as making the call at the group’s “DoroCorruption programme’’ held in Abuja.

    Wabba decried the ordeal of workers at the hands of state governments in Nigeria, insisting that the Nigerian government treat workers like slaves.

    “It is time the workers used their numbers to push back; I encourage members to get their PVCs to vote out every defaulting state governor.

    Read also: NLC rejects APC panel’s proposal on minimum wage, local govts

    “State governments owing salaries were given bailouts and different Federal Government interventions, including the Paris club funds meant to offset their debts to state workers.

    “While some have met their responsibilities and paid off, chronic debtors like Benue and Kogi states remain adamant in fulfilling their responsibilities and clearing their debts.

    “The challenge is not lack of resources but sheer unwillingness and misplaced priorities. ‘’

    Wabba said that the reality of the matter was that the problem had never been about resources, saying “In most of those states, their priority is not to pay salaries but white elephant projects.’’

    He said that before this current administration came in, Plateau owed seven months salaries but through ingenuity, the governor utilised all the money given to him to settle everybody.

    He said that many states had utilised their money, but some states, about twelve of them, including Benue and Kogi had failed.

    He, however, said that the governors should be held accountable because democracy was about the people.

    He said that if as governors, they were not able to address the fundamental constitutional issue of security and welfare of the people then the people also must be able to hold them accountable.

    “Workers and pensioners must unite to use their PVC to chase these type of people out of government; if workers, in unity, demand it and also use their power of franchise to vote them out of office,’’ he said.

    Also speaking, the co-convener, Say No Campaign, Mr Ezenwa Nwagwu, encouraged citizens to join unions or associations and actively participate in ensuring that their collective interests were championed.

    Nwagwu said that where members noticed that leadership had been compromised or failed to promote their interest, there should be no hesitation in voting such leaders out.

    He said that the demand for accountability should begin at the  communities level, adding that only when citizens were able to hold their leaders accountable, would they have the courage to hold government accountable.

    He advised Nigerians not to be divided along ethnic or religious sentiments in the demand for accountability because citizens needed to develop the culture of giving ultimatums to government and demand urgent response to their plights.

    He condemned state governors owing workers and insisted that they were inflicting the worst kind of terror on their people by attacking their means of survival.

    NAN

  • INEC involved in 419 cases – Chairman

    INEC involved in 419 cases – Chairman

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Tuesday, said that it had been involved in 419 court cases over election matters from 2016 to date.

    Chairman of the commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this in an interactive session with a group of civil society organizations, under the umbrella of the Situation Room, on Tuesday, in Abuja.

    “Between 2016 and 2017, till this week, we have appeared for 419 cases in four different courts; so, I will say that in the last two years INEC has been dragged to court 419 times.

    “Conversely, 187 of them are at Federal and state high courts while 141 are at the Court of Appeal. Sixty-one of them are at the Supreme Court and two at the Industrial Court,’’ he said.

    Yakubu said that the political atmosphere in Anambra was quite peaceful as compared to recent elections, adding that “up till today, we have no case in court on the nomination of any candidate’’.

    He said that though the situation was unusual, it was rarely amazing in the context of litigation since the 2015 general elections.

    The chairman said that 37 political parties were participating in the Nov. 18 Anambra governorship election which was a record for any governorship election in the country.

    He said that INEC monitored all the political party’s primaries and that 35 of them complied with the rules except for two that changed their candidates after the primaries, which was not allowed.

    He said that Anambra had 21 local government areas, with 326 wards, 468 polling units, 724 voting points and 2,154,738 registered voters, including 203,681 new registrants.

    Yakubu said that INEC had printed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for all registered voters in the state, and that the cards would be delivered on Saturday to the state so that the process of collection could commence.

    He said that arrangement had been made for collection of the PVCs at the ward level so that it would be closer to the polling units.

    The chairman said that INEC had delivered all the non-sensitive materials to Anambra, down to the local government areas.

    He said that logistics were okay because the infrastructure in the state was reasonably good as there was no part of the state that could not be reached in 30 minutes.

    He said that the commission was confident with the security arrangement on ground, explaining that “we have engaged with the security agents and we want the deployment to follow the needs of the commission’’.

    Yakubu said that INEC had made provision for hand-held magnifying glasses for albinos as requested by the Albino Foundation to help them see the party logos.

    He added that all funds had been provided and remitted to the state for the conduct of the election.

    Yakubu reassured indigenes of Anambra of early commencement of election, adding that the commission had made provision for ad hoc staff to stay the night at the polling areas.

    Earlier, the Convener of Situation Room, Mr Clement Nwankwo, said the meeting was organised in order to clear the concerns of civil society organisations regarding the election.

    Nwankwo said that CSOs were concerned with the safety of the electoral materials, ad hoc staff and the people.

    He urged INEC to allow the CSOs to have access to monitor the collation centres to enhance the credibility of the final results that would be announced.

    He advised the commission to continue to monitor the ballot paper to prevent some political parties conniving with the printers to omit their names or party’s logo to cook up legal cases.

    Nwankwo also urged political parties to abide by the rules and regulations of the commission in order to have a free and fair election. (NAN)

  • INEC flags-off CVR exercise in Lagos

    INEC flags-off CVR exercise in Lagos

    Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has officially flagged-off the Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) exercise in Lagos State.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event was held on Thursday in Lagos at the INEC office in Surulere Local Government Area.

    It marked the commencement of CVR exercise nationwide.

    Ogunmola, the Supervisory National Commissioner in charge of Ondo, Ogun and Lagos States, urged leaders of political parties to encourage and mobilise their supporters to register and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    “This event represents an important milestone in INEC’s mandate to deliver free, fair and credible elections.

    “The primary aim of this event is to register eligible voters who have just matured into the voting age of 18 years and those who could not register previously.

    “This will afford them to participate in the forthcoming general elections,” he said.

    According to him, the aim is also to update voters’ register to reflect transfers and deaths in accordance with Section 10 of the Electoral Act, 2010 as amended.

    Ogunmola noted that the Act required the commission to update the voters’ register and make it available to every political party within 60 days after each year of registration.

    He added: “Uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will be distributed to their owners at the registration centres.

    “The local government offices of the commission or any other suitable location designated by the state offices of the commission would be used.”

    Ogunmola said that the CVR exercise would be held in all the 774 local government areas of the federation Monday to Friday weekly, between 9 a.m. and 3 p.m., excluding public holidays.

    The supervisory INEC commissioner said eligible persons for the CVR must be citizens who have attained the age of 18 year on or before the registration day.

    He said that such person must be resident, working or originally from the local government area or registration ward covered by the registration centre.

    According to him, an eligible person must not be subject to any legal incapacity to vote under any law, rules or regulations in force in Nigeria.

    He said that those who could not register during the previous registration exercise were also eligible.

    Ogunmola said that an eligible person must present himself or herself to the CVR officers for registration and must be able to provide proof of identity, age and nationality, if requested.

    He said that the exercise would also take care of persons who had registered before but their names, photographs, finger prints were not captured.

    Ogunmola said such persons must provide their Temporary Voter Card (TVC).

    He added that the exercise would also address cases of those who had PVC or TVC but their names were not on the register of voters.

    “INEC acknowledges the issue of transfer of voters. Therefore, we want to encourage people that have moved to a different location to seize the opportunity that is being provided to transfer their registration.”

    The commissioner advised those who were already registered not to do so again as it was an offence to register more than once.

    According to him, to facilitate the successful conduct of the CVR, the commission has mobilised a team of four Registration Area Officers and a Distribution officer in the INEC LGA offices.

    He said that the Preliminary Register of Voters would be displayed for public scrutiny at registration centres by the end of every quarter before the printing of PVCs is commenced.

    Ogunmola said that TVCs would be issued to registrants at the point of registration, adding that PVCs of voters registered in the 1st quarter should be ready for collection in the 3rd quarter.

    According to him, the PVCs of voters registered in the 2nd quarter should be ready in the 4th quarter.

    He added that cases of lost or omitted PVCs and test of PVCs using Smart Card Reader (SCR) would be attended to.

    The commissioner said the exercise would be all year round and urged eligible voters to participate so as not to disenfranchise themselves.

     

  • “240, 000 uncollected PVCs in Kwara”- INEC Admin Secretary

    “240, 000 uncollected PVCs in Kwara”- INEC Admin Secretary

    The INEC Administrative Secretary in Kwara, Mr Paul Atser, has disclosed that a total of 240, 000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) had yet to be collected by voters in the state.

    Atser made this known on Tuesday in Ilorin in his opening remarks at the INEC Stakeholders’ meeting on the commencement of the Distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) and Continuous Voters’ Registration (CVR) in the state.

    He said INEC will release the PVCs to their rightful owners upon presentation of their Temporary Voters Card (TVCs) and fill the attestation forms to be supplied by INEC Distribution Officers.

    The Admin Secretary said the exercise will commence nationwide on Thursday, while that of Kwara will also kick off on that day at the INEC office in Ilorin West Local Government.

    He said the exercise will take place in all the 16 local government councils starting from 9:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. daily, except public holidays.

    According to Atser, the distribution of PVCs, and the registration of voters who have just turned 18 years and the transfer of PVCs from one location to the other will last till a month to the Permanent Voter Cards

    He, therefore, advised those who have registered during the last registration exercise and have not collected their PVCs to find time and collect same between now and one month to the 2019 Presidential election.

    Atser added that there was no need for people to rush to the collection or registration centers, as there was enough time to do so at their leisure.

    The Admin Secretary also said that those who were given Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but their names were not captured in the PVCs would be registered for fresh PVCs.

    He advised those that have already collected their PVCs not to bother to come for registration as double registration was not allowed.

    “No double registration, it is an offence to register more than once as this constitutes an electoral offence and it is punishable,’’ Atser added.

    He said print outs of the registered list will be on display during the last week of every quarter, for people to raise objections and claims.

    Atser said lost PVCs will be replaced upon presentation of an Affidavit from a High Court and a Police report at the registration center, where the person will fill a form containing the biometric data.

    The Stakeholders meeting was attended by representatives of the Commissioner of Police in Kwara, the Directorate of State Security, the NSCDC and the National Orientation Agency (NOA).

    It was also attended by chairmen and /secretaries of registered political parties in the state, representatives of civil society and women groups.

     

  • Crisis in Ohanaeze over Jonathan deepens

    Crisis in Ohanaeze over Jonathan deepens

    The crisis in the Igbo apex body, Ohanaeze Ndigbo, over the endorsement of President Goodluck Jonathan, has deepened. A group, the Igbo Delegates Assembly, has distanced itself from the endorsement of the President for a second term.

    In a communiqué after its meeting yesterday in Abuja, signed by Chief S. Iyamah, the president-general and Comrade Austin Ifedinezi, the public relations officer, the group urged Igbo in the North to remain where they are and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    They enjoined the President and the security agencies to protect them and their investments.

     

  • INEC receives card readers

    INEC receives card readers

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Oyo State has said it has received a consignment of card readers.

    This has ended speculations by politicians that some “money bags” have purchased Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

    INEC’s Head of Voter Education and Publicity Ayodele Folami, who spoke on a private radio station, Flash FM yesterday, said the commission received reports of some politicians buying PVCs.

    He described such exercise as futile and waste of resources “because INEC has received a consignment of card readers which will take care of anybody using someone else’s PVC”.

    The INEC spokesman advised the electorate not to sell their PVCs and suffer for four years “because they will not be bold to ask the politicians for accountability”.