One of the elections observer group, Election Monitor, in its fifth press statement on Nigeria’s 2019 general elections, told the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the sates for the collection of PVCs by registered voters since the elections were postponed.
The group in the statement remarked: “as the Independent National Electoral Commission prepares for the new date of the 2019 General Elections, welcomes the recent approval on the evening of Monday 18th February 2019 to allow political parties to continue their campaigns until midnight on Thursday 21stFebruary 2019.
“However, Election Monitor is concerned that a similar extension was not made for the collection of permanent voter cards (PVCs).”
It was noted that INEC at its stakeholders meeting on Saturday 16th February 2019, announced that 76.12% or 10.87 million voters had collected their PVCs. Election Monitor stated that while this is commendable, it should be improved where possible, recalling that in 2015, the total PVCs collected as of the 21st March 2015 (just before the presidential and national assembly elections) was 56,431,255 out 68,833,476 registered voters which translates to 81.98% collection rate. This is almost six per cent above the current rate, the group said.
The group acknowledging that there are voters who have made genuine efforts to collect their PVCs but have been asked to return, advocated that providing two or three extra days would be helpful. “Anything that can be done to increase voter participation should be encouraged. Election Monitor recommends INEC kindly and urgently considers providing some additional days for PVC collection,” it declared.
Election Monitor also stated that INEC should necessarily announce the number of PVCs collected per LGA and State no later than 24 hours before the new date of the elections.
Election Monitor also encouraged INEC to consider the following:
· Hold a meeting (possibly Thursday 21st February 2019) to provide details of INEC’s preparations for all key stakeholders.
· INEC should kindly clarify if politicians compensating voters with cash for traveling to vote and or providing free transportation for voters does not amount to vote buying.
· INEC should consider a daily press briefing on its preparations until Friday 22nd February 2019.
Election Monitor admonished voters and various stakeholders to hold a zero tolerance for election rigging and immediately expose those engaging in such.
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