The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed regret that politicians are already buying Permanent Voter Cards, or PVCs, to rig and damage the integrity of the process ahead of the upcoming general elections in 2023.
This information is being released as voters from all 774 local government units in the nation head outside to pick up their PVCs. This procedure started on December 12 and is anticipated to be completed by January 27, 2023.
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During the Monday launch of the #YourVoteMatters project by an election observer group, NESSACTION, in Abuja, Mohammed Haruna, the Acting Chairman of INEC and National Commissioner in charge of the FCT, Nasarawa, Kaduna, and Plateau states, voiced this alarm.
Haruna disclosed that the Commission recently found two people guilty of illegally having PVCs in the states of Sokoto and Kano.
He stressed that PVCs are now purchased by politicians and warned voters against selling their cards for any purpose because doing so is an electoral crime.
Some of you are aware that INEC only recently succeeded in convicting two individuals who were discovered to have illegally possessed PVCs in Kano and Sokoto, he said. As a result, I urge everyone to gather their PVCs, store them securely, and make sure to vote on election day. You cannot cast a ballot without a PVC.
