The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has once again extended the deadline for collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) by one week to February 5, 2023.
This is the second time the commission is extending the collection of PVCs due to the progress made so far in the exercise.
This disclosure is contained in a statement issued by the INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, on Saturday.
Okoye said the decision of the commission follows its meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 states of the federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
What INEC is saying
- The statement from Okoye reads, “The Commission met today, Saturday, 29th January 2023 a day after its meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja and deliberated on a number of issues, including the reports from RECs on the ongoing collection of Permanent Voters Cards in its 774 Local Government Offices nationwide.
- “It will be recalled that at the meeting with RECs on Friday, 28th January 2023, the Chairman of the Commission, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu indicated that 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.
- “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.
- “Those that engaged in double and multiple registrations should not bother visiting any of the Commission’s Offices as the Commission did not print their PVCs.
- “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.”
For catch up
- Recall that about 2 weeks ago, INEC announced the extension of the deadline for the collection of PVCs by about a week.
- The election umpire who had earlier fixed January 22, 2023, as the collection deadline for these PVCs, extended the deadline to Sunday, January 29, 2023.
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