The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman, Professor Mamoud Yakubu, has revealed that the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be ready for collection in November, as 2.7 million double registrations have been deleted from the Continuous Voters Registration (CVR).
According to the INEC boss, about 2.7 million double registrations have been removed from the CVR which ended in July.
He disclosed at a National Endowment for Democracy event in Washington that about 50 percent of PVCs are ready but are yet to be distributed to collection centres, and a new set will be available in November.
1,126,359 out of the 2, 523,458 PVC registrations between 28 June 2021 and 14 January 2022 were invalid and deleted
Yakubu’s spokesman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, also quoted him as raising concern about security challenges but he gave an assurance the INEC will do its best.
“It is a perennial issue because, at the end of the day, it is not new but the dimension of the insecurity is new in the sense that in the past, it was localised or confined to a particular part of the country – the North East but now, it is more widespread,” he said.
“We are keeping our eyes, particularly, on the North West and the South Eastern part of the country. Elections are conducted by human beings. We worry about the security of our officials, materials, and even the voters themselves. Without them, elections cannot be conducted.
“We have spoken to the security agencies and they have assured us that the situation will improve before the elections. So, fingers crossed,” Yakubu added.
INEC National Commissioner and Information and Voter Education Committee Chairman, Festus Okoye, announced in September the discovery of several double, multiple, and ineligible registrants who were invalidated.
He said cleaning up the Voters’ Register with Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) had been ongoing since the suspension of the CVR on 31 July.
INEC had earlier announced that 1,126,359 out of the 2, 523,458 PVC registrations between 28 June 2021 and 14 January 2022 were invalid and deleted.
