Support groups mop up PVCs, pay N10,000 per card code in Lagos

Support groups working for an unnamed presidential candidate for the 2023 elections  have engaged in mopping up PVCs  in some parts of Lagos State under the guise of house-to-house mobilization of support for their candidate. Some residents of the state who narrated their ordeals, seeking anonymity, said that the campaign workers approached them in their neighbourhood, asking if they have PVCs, which most of them responded in the affirmative. They were then told to bring their PVCs for sighting, after which the camapign workers allegedly request their approval to copy the code number on the back of the PVC in exchange for N10,000. Residents who conceded to the request were said to be allegedly given N10,000 while the campaign workers  allegedly wrote the card code in a booklet they were holding, promising to visit them again before the election day. The residents could not, however, ascertain the particular candidate the support groups were working for, saying that they were not told the identity of their party.

Some residents also alleged of plots to disenfranchised non-indigenes of Lagos State in some parts of the state. a woman narrated to National Daily in Festac Town that a set people approached residents Ago Palace, including Ikotun, claiming not be INEC officials, urging those who want to transfer their polling units to their new locations to submit their PVCs. The woman said that many people came out, submitted their PVCs, including herself, and were told by the ‘officials’  after collecting the PVCs that they will come back to capture them and update their records. The women lamented that  they never came back till today, and their PVCs are gone.  She decried that she, like others, cannot vote during the 2023 general elections because they no longer have PVCs. She said that her intention was to change from the polling unit in Ago Palace area to Festac Town which is her new residence.

Also, at some Okada Parks in Lagos, some young men were noticed engaging okada operators, persuading them to present their PVCs, those who had theirs complied, while those who did not have theirs immediately, were appealed to bring them the next day.

There were some who had registration slips but were yet to get their PVCs, the mobilisers encouraged them to go for their PVCs which the INEC said were ready for collection. National Daily did not notice any financial transaction during their conversation; however, the mobilisers had a booklet where they were writing the names of the operators they engage.

National Daily observed that these mobilization activities were going mainly in the outskirt of the urban centres at the time of this report.