Victor Ezeja
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has again extended the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) in its local government area offices nationwide.
This time, the extension is for an additional one week ending on Sunday, 5th February 2023.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThis was made known in a statement released on Saturday by Festus Okoye, INEC’s National Electoral Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education.
Okoye said the Commission’s decision to further extend the deadline was taken after a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECS) from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal capital territory, Abuja where 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, were deliberated.
Recall that the Commission had at the expiration of its first deadline extended collection of PVCs at the Registration Area (Ward) level from January 16th – 22nd, while the Local government level resumed on January 23rd and was to end on 29th.
“It will be recalled that at the meeting with RECs on Friday, 27th January 2023, the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu indicated that the
The commission will not hesitate to consider additional measures to ensure that all citizens have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the General Election.
“Having reviewed reports from all the States of the Federation, the Commission is encouraged by the progress made so far as more Nigerians troop out daily to collect their PVCs.
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“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.
“This is the second time the commission is extending PVC collection nationwide and this will be the last extension of the exercise. The collection period has further been extended by an additional two hours and will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.”
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He said those that engaged in double or multiple registrations should not bother visiting any of the Commission’s offices because their PVCs were not printed.
“The Commission will continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and will ensure that no Nigerian is disadvantaged and all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs.
The Commission once again salutes the patience and doggedness of citizens,” Okoye stated.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
