The All Progressives Congress, the
Peoples Democratic Party and
lawyers on Sunday lauded the
Independent National Electoral
Commission for extending the
deadline for the collection of
permanent voter cards from March
8 to March 22.
The commission, in a terse
statement on Sunday by the Chief
Press Secretary to its Chairman,
Kayode Idowu, said “the latest
extension offers the last
opportunity for registered persons
to collect their PVCs before the
March 28 and April 11 general
elections.”
“INEC hereby calls on registered
persons that are yet to collect their
PVCs to use this last opportunity in
doing so, in order to participate in
the forthcoming general elections,”
Idowu added.
The commission had last
Wednesday said that it had
succeeded in distributing 80.24 per
cent of the PVCs to their owners.
The figure indicated that 55,232,874
out of the 68,833,476 registered
voters had picked their cards .
Out of the 36 states and the Federal
Capital Territory, Ogun State is the
only state that had yet to reach 50
per cent PVCs collection.
In the state, only 47.27 per cent
(864,292) of the 1,829,534 registered
voters had picked theirs.
In its reaction to the extension of
deadline for the collection of the
PVCs, the APC said it was a welcome
development. It therefore called on
those yet to collect theirs to do so.
“Hopefully this extension will
enable those who have been
unable to collect their PVCs to do
so. We also hope that, it will no
longer be possible for people to
say they cannot collect their PVCs,
to that extent, it is a welcome
development, ” the party’s National
Publicity Secretary, Lai
Mohammed, told one of our
correspondents.
Mohammed’s counterpart in the
PDP, Olisa Metuh, said the
extension would enable more
eligible voters to pick up their
cards.
“The extension is good. It will
enable more eligible voters pick up
their cards,” Metuh told one of
our correspondents in Abuja.
Also, some lawyers – Sebastian Hon
(SAN), Wahab Shittu and Malachy
Ugwummadu – described the
extension of the deadline as a
good development.
They however called on INEC to
use the remaining period before
the elections to address the hitches
associated with the use of the card
readers.
Hon said, “The extension of the
period for the collection of the PVC
is most commendable. With the
extension there should be no
excuse for anybody who has
refused to collect his or her own
PVC.
“I also congratulate INEC for its
successful outing on Saturday.
There is overwhelming evidence
that it was successful except for
some few areas where there were
hitches. INEC still has time to
correct the anomalies. INEC should
go ahead to deliver to us the
credible election we deserve and
desire. Nothing should stop INEC
from using the card readers.
“Anything short of the card readers
will bring confusion and mar the
whole process.
Shittu said that beyond PVC
collection and the use of card
readers, the March 28 and April 11
already scheduled for the elections
should remain sacrosanct.
“The extension of the period for
collection of the PVC is a welcome
development. It is aimed at
affording Nigerians the opportunity
of exercising their franchise
because the more the number of
Nigerians who participate in the
exercise the greater the credibility
it lend to the election.
“The deployment of the card
readers is a positive development.
It will help to minimise rigging by
large scale. It is something all
Nigerians must support.
“But beyond that, what is more
critical at this stage is that the
dates already fixed for the
elections to hold must remain
sacrosanct. Nothing should change
it again so that Nigeria does not
become a laughing stock in the
international community.”
Ugwummadu also said that “the
decision to extend the period for
collection of the PVC is a welcome
development.”
He applauded the INEC for the
proving that the use of the card
readers was acceptable and
workable, but urged the
commission to address the hitches
that surfaced from the test-run .
The lawyer said, “To a large extent,
it is a mixed outcome. Concerning
the workability of the machine, it is
satisfactory. But in terms of the
effectual use, it is mixed. It was
discovered that it took longer time
than what was envisaged in some
places.
“INEC still has time to put in place
back up for malfunctioning
machines, retraining of its men so
that they can better handle the
machines.”
But another SAN, Joseph Nwobike,
who also commended the
postponement of the period for the
collection of the PVCs, said the card
reader test-run ought to have been
done about 10 months ago.
He argued that that would have
afforded the manufacturers of the
card readers enough time to
correct some of the defects
revealed by the test-run on
Saturday.
Nwobike said, “If they had done the
test-run about 10 months ago, INEC
would have had the opportunity to
go back to the manufacturer to
correct the anomalies that surfaced
yesterday. There would have been
another test-run to ascertain the
efficiency of the machine. All the
hitches encountered yesterday
would have been cleared
“Nobody should be disenfranchised
so I will advocate the use of both
the PVC and the Temporary Voter
Card.”
The Conference of Nigerian Political
Parties has said it still supports
the use of the card readers by INEC.
Spokesman for the group, Osita
Okechukwu, said, “the mock test of
the Magnetic Card Reader, by INEC
even if the picture is the only
identification matrix; has further
emboldened and reinforced our
resolve to adopt the device as the
best device to avoid mangling and
manipulating the electoral
process.”
A Second Republic member of the
House of Representatives, Junaid
Mohammed, said the extension of
the deadline for PVCs collection
would “ give those who have been
unable to collect their cards an
opportunity to do so.”
On the testing of the card
readers, Mohammed said, “It
generally went well here in Kano.
There were no major issues that
could not be handled.”
by ROTMANLUV 2023-07-08, 17:34
