The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State says that 1,096,355 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) printed before the 2019 general elections have not been collected.
The new INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Olusegun Agbaje, stated this at his maiden stakeholders’ meeting with party leaders, civil society organisations and other relevant stakeholders in Lagos.
“Let me also inform you that some Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) of those registered before the 2019 General Election are still available at all the 20 LGAs for collection by those who are supposed to have done so.
“It is important to point out that a total of 5,626,537 PVCs were collected by their owners before the 2019 General Election out of 6,728,394 PVCs received in the state, leaving a balance of 1,101,557.
“Out of the remaining ones, 5,202 had been collected since the beginning of the CVR exercise last year.
“1,096,355 PVCs are yet to be collected as we speak.
“I want to use this opportunity to urge all those yet to collect their PVCs to go to the INEC offices in the LGAs where they registered to do so.
“All PVCs issued by INEC are valid to be used to vote in all elections conducted by INEC including the 2023 General Election,” Agbaje said.
The REC said that the level of participation of eligible residents of the state since the beginning of the CVR, both online and physical capturing exercise, was very low compared to other states in the country with lesser populations.
According to him, those who have registered online without completing the physical capturing exercise will not be eligible for PVCs and cannot vote in 2023.
He said that the third quarter of the CVR had been concluded, and the printing of the register generated during the third quarter was at an advanced stage and would be on display between March 26 and April 1 for claims and objections.
Agbaje said that the fourth quarter CVR would occur between April 11 and June 30.
“So far, a total of 112,127 eligible citizens have completed their registration as of March 21 in Lagos State since the beginning of the CVR in 2021,” the INEC REC said.
He said that before expanding Voter Access to Polling Units across the Federation by the Commission in 2021, Lagos State had 8,464 Polling Units. Still, the Polling Units had increased to 13,325 after the exercise.
The commissioner urged party leaders and the media in the state to assist INEC in educating the voters to register or transfer their registration to the new polling units in the ongoing CVR so as not to defeat the purpose of creating them.
Agbaje urged political parties to always adhere strictly to their respective parties’ constitutions, the Electoral Act, and the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in all their affairs, particularly by ensuring internal party democracy during the upcoming primaries.
The REC noted that the Commission’s major challenges were “the win-at-all-cost attitudes of some politicians and voter apathy.
In his remarks, Mr Olusegun Mobolaji, the Chairman Inter-Party Advisory Council (IPAC), Lagos State, said that the council was ready to work with INEC in all its activities for 2023 general elections.