Adedayo Akinwale in Abuja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the ongoing collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) nationwide to 5th February 2023.
Initially, the collection of PVCs was supposed to end on Sunday 29th January 2023.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye in a statement issued Saturday said it would be the second time the Commission was extending PVC collection nationwide and this would be the last extension of the exercise.
The commission had on Friday held meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal capital Territory, Abuja, where it deliberated on a number of issues, including the reports from RECs on the ongoing collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) in its 774 Local Government Offices nationwide.
It was at the meeting with RECs on Friday, that the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu indicated that the Commission would not hesitate to consider additional measures to ensure that all citizens have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the General Election.
The commission said having reviewed reports from all the States of the federation, the Commission was encouraged by the progress made so far as more Nigerians troop out daily to collect their PVCs,
Against this background, the electoral body announced the one week extension after its meeting held on Saturday.
It added that the collection period had further been extended by an additional two hours and would start at 9am and end at 5pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.
It stated: “Arising from reports from the various States and discussions with Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission has decided to further extend PVC collection in all its Local Government Offices nationwide by an additional one week.
“The ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide will therefore continue and end on 5th February 2023.
“Those that engaged in double and multiple registration should not bother visiting any of the Commission’s Offices as the Commission did not print their PVCs.”
The Commission assured that it would continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and would also ensure that no Nigerian was disadvantaged.
It further assured that all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs.
