Why Others Couldn’t Get PVC, By Jega?

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Twelve days to the general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), has said that loss of data was why many voters could not get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) earlier. It also blamed the loss on negligence by some staff of the commission. Deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, Nick Dazang, made the disclosure yesterday at a one-day workshop held for newsmen in Kaduna.

He said the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Sa’ad Abubakar and Governor Babatunde Raji Fashola and many other Nigerians were initially not captured in the INEC register due to initial loss of data but noted that the anomaly has been corrected and their PVCs are ready to be collected. “Initial lost of data led to loss of finger prints and that was why the Sultan of Sokoto, Governor Fashola of Lagos, others could not get their PVC. “What I know is that those whose data were lost and those who did the Continuous Voter Register (CVR), their cards are now ready. Attitude of some INEC staff led to loss of the data”, he added.

It would be recalled that millions of registered voters had lamented the non inclusion of their names in the INEC register sent to various polling units. Prominent among them were the Sultan of Sokoto, Alhaji Mohammed Sa’ad Abubakar, Governor Fashola, his Plateau state counterpart, Jonah Jang among others. Dazang also declared that notwithstanding the challenges being faced by INEC, the commission has achieved 65 percent distribution of PVC nationally even as he expressed optimism that the percentage of PVC distribution will grow substantially before the election. “All cards (PVC) are on ground and are being distributed to the states”, he said.

Dazang maintained as at January 31, 2015, 42.7 million PVCs, representing 65 percent national average distributions, has been achieved. He also said some states have achieved distribution up to between 79 and 80 percent average. age. The breakdown of the states according to Dazang include; Adamawa (79.5percent), Gombe (78percent), Jigawa (79percent), Katsina (79.4percent), Osun (70.7percent) and Taraba (80.5percent). “There are states that have done very well, but the national average is 65 percent.

This figure is conservative. “At the end of the one week extension, we are expecting between 79 to 80 percent national average, even in an examination if you score this figure, nobody will say you did badly . “The best INEC has done is the extension of one week and by statistics, within the first three days of distribution of PVC, cards going into millions were distributed, if we have one week extension, what stop us from distributing the balance” he added.

He however emphasized that the onus is not on INEC, but on Nigerians, adding that “we cannot have 100 percent collection, because some people must have died”. “By law, INEC cannot force people to register and cannot force people to collect, by law we don’t have the power to force people to collect PVC”, Dazang said. He also called on those who are reportedly buying PVC’s to desist, pointing out that they are wasting their time and disenfranchising owners of the card. “The report we are having is some people are collecting money before giving out PVCs to their owners, we urge you to report to INEC anybody caught for appropriate sanction”, he said.

On the use of card readers for 2015 election, the deputy Director of Voter Education and Publicity, stated that though there are 120,000 polling units across the country, INEC has procured 152,000 card readers and had since distributed them to the states. Continuing, he alluded that Internally Displaced Persons (IDP’s) resident outside the three troubled states of Adamawa, Yobe and Borno would not vote, but added that for security reasons voting centers will be located within IDP camps only within the troubled states but not outside the states.