Three days to the deadline for collection of Permanent Voter Cards(PVCs), some registered voters in the Federal Capital Territory on Tuesday lamented their inability to collect the cards.
The voters expressed their disappointment in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) correspondent who monitored the exercise at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Abuja Municipal Areal Council (AMAC) office, Karu, Abuja.
INEC has fixed Feb. 8 as the deadline for the collection of PVCs ahead of the general elections.
Mr Chidi Okere, a civil servant, who registered in July 2018, said he was told to come back on Friday because his PVC was not yet ready.
“I am disappointed and I feel sad that I may not be able to participate in the forthcoming general elections,’’ Okere said.
Mr Micheal Oluwaseun, another registered voter who was at the INEC office said, “last week I was here to collect my PVC but I was told to come back today. It is still the same story that my card is not ready and the deadline for collection is Friday.
“This means that it is not all of us that registered that would be able to vote. This is very bad.
“I wanted to vote but now that my PVC is not available it means I cannot vote,’’ Oluwaseun said.
Mr Victor Musa also said that he applied for transfer of his voter card from Kogi to FCT since June 2018, yet his card was not ready for collection.
“Since I will not be able to travel down to Kogi during elections, I applied for the transfer of my card to the FCT.
“This is my fifth time of coming here. As I am now, I am even tired. I have dashed them the PVC. I am not coming back again. Let them do whatever they want with the card.
“I have missed work for almost five times just to get PVC, yet I cannot get it. I am not interested again,” Musa said.
However, some of the registered voters who were able to collect their cards expressed joy that after going through the huddles of registration and collection process, they would be able to vote.
Mrs Ada Ruth, registered in April 3, 2018, said that she went through a lot of stress before she could get the card.
“I have been coming here for several times, they will tell me to come back in spite all the transport cost that I have been incurring. Today I came here by 6.30 a.m. Thank God I finally got it. I am ready to vote.’’
Mr Abu Yusuf, who just collected his PVC, expressed happiness that he would be able to vote for the first time.
“I am happy that I now have my card. I can’t wait to vote for candidate of my choice.’’
The Administrative Secretary, INEC-FCT, Mr NicK Dazang, told NAN that the commission was working to ensure that all registered voters got their PVCs before the deadline for collection.
He told NAN that some of the last batch of requests for transfer and some of the registration in some “baby units’’ under voting point settlement, were done late.
Dazang said that the commission was still expecting some of the PVCs from the INEC headquarters, urging affected registered voters to be patient while pledging that the cards would be distributed as soon as they were made available.
“We recently received more than 91, 000 copies of similar cards which we have sorted out and we are distributing them across area councils.
“As soon as we receive more we will continue to distribute until the last day of distribution.
“They should continue to exercise patience. As many as we receive from the headquarters we will continue to distribute them,’’ Dazang said.
He, however, urged those yet to collect their PVCs to do so within the remaining days to allow them participate in the forthcoming elections.(NAN)
