he Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has fixed Monday 12 December 2022 to Sunday 22 January 2022, February 18 for the collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee of INEC Festus Okoye, announced this in a statement on Friday night. “The Commission has fixed Monday 12 December 2022 to Sunday 22 January 2023 as the dates for the collection of PVCs in all the 774 local government offices of the commission throughout the Federation.
The commission also resolved to devolve PVC collection to the 8,809 registration areas/wards from Friday 6th to Sunday 15th January 2023,” Okoye said. He said those who are unable to collect their PVCs at the local government offices of the commission can do so at the registration areas/electoral wards. He urged all eligible and valid registrants to collect their PVCs from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily, including Saturdays and Sundays. In a related development, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said the commission is already working to resolve election result issues that may arise from blind network spots.
He stated this at an interactive session with journalists in Lagos on Friday. He also assured that those whose permanent voter cards, PVCs, were destroyed following incessant attacks on the commission’s offices across the country would be able to vote in the 2021 general elections as INEC would reprint the PVCs. Yakubu said the commission would be meeting with the Nigerian Communications Commission (NCC) on Tuesday, on mobile network issues that might affect transmission of results. He said that Nigerians had nothing to fear about the effectiveness of result transmission in the 2023 general elections using the BVAS.
“INEC has identified blind spots (where there is poor or no networks) and we are working to make sure there won’t be any problem. We are working with the NCC to make sure we transmit from blind spots. They are the network regulators and they will be very vital to that. We are making sure and working hard so that we transmit freely all around the country. Those whose Permanent Voters’ Cards are burnt will vote if they apply for a new card. We will reprint those cards and the owners can vote. This also covers those who have lost their PVCs.
