Some Plateau voters in Jos the State capital, have expressed concerns over the inability of officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide Permanent Voters Cards (PVC).
The voters said they have been visiting the designated collection centers but INEC has repeatedly failed to provide their voters cards.
In Jos, some registration centers are deserted, while others are filled with people waiting to collect their PVCs.
Shu’aibu Hussaini, a Jos resident said ” I came to pick my PVC but I wasn’t able to collect. They told me they haven’t seen mine. This is my fifth time of coming here and yet I haven’t succeeded. I couldn’t get mine and that of my two children. They would always tell me to return tomorrow but nothing would change. I am tired of coming.”
Abubakar Danlladi, another resident of the town said: “I came to collect my PVC but said mine was not available. They told me that some PVCs were yet to be brought. They asked me to check again if mine would be available. I will come back again because I really want to the PVC. It is very important to me.
“Those who are responsible for the distribution of the cards are making the process difficult, and that is why we are finding it difficult to collect the cards. If they have organised the place, everything would been easy,” said Muhammad Usman, a resident of the town.
Despite these issues, voters hope that INEC would be able to locate and distribute all missing PVCs before the end of the collection exercise.
INEC had, in December last year, said after 15 January 2023, the exercise will revert to the Local Government Offices of the Commission until 22 January 2023.
Meanwhile, a Jos-based volunteer group has commenced the mobilization of registered voters to collect their PVCs at the designated areas, to enable them to participate in the forthcoming elections.
Despite localizing the exercise, thousands of registered voters are yet to pick up their cards at the designated centers.
It is against this background that the volunteer group mobilizing voters in major streets and markets in Jos, encouraging them to pick their PVCs, so they can participate in the election.
Although the commission had publicized the collection of the PVCs through various channels, the group believes that it is important to amplify such publicity due to the significance of the cards in the electoral process.
