The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned Nigerians without Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) not to appear at polling units on Election Day. Only those with PVCs will be allowed to vote, as no other means of identification will be used, according to Festus Okoye, the commission’s Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee. Okoye announced on Thursday in Abuja while receiving IT facilities from Community Life Project (CLP) and Ford Foundation, supporting the INEC Citizens Contact Centre (ICCC). He stressed that using the PVC and the Bimadal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for voters’ accreditation and uploading election results to its Result Viewing Portal (IReV) remained mandatory.
Okoye states, “individuals that do not have the PVC are not required to approach any of our polling units. No individual is permitted to go to the polling units and provide any means of identification other than the PVC.” Okoye also cautioned election observer groups and fellow citizens that only INEC had the legal right to announce election results. Only the chairman of the commission, who is also the Electoral Commissioner for the whole of the Federation and the Returning Officer for the presidential election, is permitted by the constitution and the Electoral Act to announce the presidential results, he added.
