A human‑rights organisation operating under the Centre for Transparency Advocacy (CTA) on Monday urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to at least one week before the general elections. The group noted that INEC had ended PVC collection on 5 February, ahead of the 25 February presidential and National Assembly elections and the 11 March governorship poll.
At a press conference on the mock accreditation exercise, CTA Executive Director Faith Nwadishi called for the reopening and extension of PVC collection to a week before the first round of elections. She also argued that the total votes cast should be calculated based on the number of PVCs collected, rather than the total number of registered voters. “During the previous off‑season election, INEC allowed citizens to collect their PVCs up to 48 hours before the vote. There is no reason we cannot allow a full week before the general election,” Nwadishi said. “If 48 hours was possible for one state, a week should be feasible nationwide.”
Nwadishi explained that INEC needs to release the total number of persons who have collected PVCs and that, in states such as Ekiti and Osun, the commission now reports the percentage of votes cast based on PVCs collected rather than on the total registered electorate. “We have always miscalculated voter turnout by using the number of registered voters, even though 10‑30 percent of people may not have collected their cards. Only those with PVCs can vote,” she noted. With 11 days remaining until the election, she urged INEC to extend the collection period to ensure accurate data for the upcoming polls.
The CTA praised the Resident Electoral Commissioners in Lagos and Edo states for providing daily data on PVC collection. Regarding the mock accreditation exercise, Nwadishi observed that many people were unaware of the exercise, leading to low turnout in some areas, and that a misconception persisted that officials intended to copy PVC numbers to prevent voting on election day.
She added that the BVAS (Bimodal Voter Accreditation System) is expected to eliminate ballot‑snatching incidents. In most polling units observed, the accreditation process was peaceful, with no chaos recorded and the machines functioning well, taking only one to two minutes per voter. At Area 10/Post Office, observers requested a double‑accreditation test; the BVAS successfully flagged the duplicate attempt, confirming its ability to prevent double accreditation.
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