With barely 30 days to the scheduled general elections, the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room, a coalition of over 70 groups working in support of credible and transparent elections in the country, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, to extend its deadline for the collection of Permanent Voters Card, PVC.

The Situation Room in a statement yesterday, said it was worried that timelines given to people who had been asked to return to collect their PVCs “are unrealistic and would lead to disenfranchisement.”

It noted that going by INEC’s calendar on distribution of PVCs, the Local Government Area distribution at INEC offices will end on January 29.

“The Situation Room has recorded numerous complaints on issues surrounding the collection of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) at the Ward level distribution.

“Majority of the complaints bordered on unavailability of PVCs for both new and old registrants without a future date for collection. In some Wards, people were asked to return in February.

“There were also reports of INEC staff not permanently located at the Wards during the exercise. In most States, the staff were roving from Ward to Ward without a clear schedule for visit to Wards and when people turned up, they met absence.

“An exception is in Edo State where a schedule for PVC collection was published and disseminated on social media to enable registrants know where to collect their PVCs and dates for collection.

“Based on the above premise, Situation Room reiterates its call on INEC to reconsider the 29th January 2023 deadline for PVC Collection at the LGA level to accommodate the large number of Nigerians who are yet to collect their PVC not out of their own refusal but due to the various reasons they have been given by the Commission on why their PVC has not been printed.

“An extension would also give INEC time to print PVCs for the many registrants whose PVCs were not printed.”

Aside from the issue of PVC collection, the Situation Room further urged the INEC to conduct mock elections in some States to enable voters to familiarise themselves with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation system, BVAS.

It said the mock elections should be held in locations that include both urban and rural settings to enable voters to see the functionality of the BVAS in practice and have some experience of what to expect on election day.

“This would help INEC identify possible challenges and prepare to address them ahead of the elections especially in geo-political zones where they have never been used before”.

On the issue of persistent fuel scarcity across the country, Situation Room also implored the Federal Government to find a lasting solution to the problem, stressing that it was capable of affecting the smooth conduct of the forthcoming elections.

“Nigerians have been severely affected by the persistent fuel scarcity and continuous increase in price since 2022. Situation Room is concerned about the impact this could have on transportation and logistics during the elections.

“With the Commission anticipating the deployment of over 100,000 vehicles including motorcycles and tricycles to ensure that personnel and materials arrive polling units before voters on election day, Situation Room calls on INEC to ensure that this logistics arrangement is revisited to accommodate the present realities if this has not been already done as elections are fast approaching if this has not already been done.

“Situation Room therefore calls on the President and Minister of Petroleum, President Muhammadu Buhari, to meet with the oil marketers and Nigerian National Petroleum Company Limited, NNPCL, to proffer a lasting solution to the lingering fuel scarcity before the elections”, the statement, which was jointly signed by conveners of the Nigeria CSO Room, Ene Obi, Asma’u Joda and James Ugochukwu. (Vanguard)

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