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Reps Summon INEC Over Permanent Voters’ Card Distribution 

The House of Representatives in Nigeria has summoned the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, to furnish it with progress … Continue reading Reps Summon INEC Over Permanent Voters’ Card Distribution 


attahiru jegaThe House of Representatives in Nigeria has summoned the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, to furnish it with progress report on the ongoing distribution and modalities for the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Card (PVC) across states before the 2015 elections.

A lawmaker, Yakub Balogun, had raised a motion of urgent national importance on what he termed a haphazard distribution of Permanent Voters’ Card by the electoral commission, raising fears of imminent disenfranchisement of eligible voters in some states.

Mr Balogun alleged that “despite INEC’s directive that all eligible voters must compulsorily replace their temporary voters’ cards with the new permanent voters’ cards the electoral body has not been able to effectively replace all the temporary cards in some states where the distribution is ongoing”.

He pointed out that eligible voters who had approached INEC for the replacement of their temporary cards were turned back on the account that their individual PVCs were not read, expressing fears that the situation might amount to disenfranchisement of such voters.

The INEC boss is expected to appear before the house committee on electoral matters within the next 48 hours.

The electoral commission had said that voters without the PVC would not be allowed to vote in the 2015 election.

It has tested the use of the card for voting in the Ekiti governorship election held in June and is looking to also use the card for the Osun governorship election.

Considering the importance of the general election in 2015, political analysts have stressed the need for the INEC to ensure that issues around the PVC were resolved before the election.