The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has warned politicians not to play political games with the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the general elections slated for Saturday, March 28, 2015 and Saturday, April 11, 2015.
The commission mad this known via its Director-General of Electoral Institute, Professor Abubakar Momoh, who addressed an interactive session on the 2015 elections put together by the National Union of Textile Garment and Tailoring Workers of Nigeria(NUTGTWN), warning politicians not to use the PVCs to blackmail the electorate.
He also urged all Nigerians to endeavour to collect their PVCs as it was their power to decide their futrue.
He said: “Some politicians are trying to play politics with PVCs and they are trying to use it to blackmail people. All the cards are in the country and are ready for collection. Everybody should go and collect their PVCs and nobody should use it to blackmail anyone again. Why are politicians afraid of PVCs in the first place? The reason is very simple: the PVC has a high security protection that has made election rigging very difficult. That is why politicians are not comfortable with it. There is no place for them to hide because rigging is in the past tense in Nigeria. Rather than disturbing themselves and thinking of ways they can manipulate with the PVCs, they should just face the issues and tell the public what they want to do for them.
“For instance, many of the 9,000 PVCs that were snatched in Rivers and Edo states are now being returned because they have discovered it is useless for them. The only thing the politicians are now doing is to go to the stronghold of their opponents where they know that they will not be voted for and buy off the PVCs so that the voters cannot vote. Apart from that, there is no way they can rig with the introduction of the PVCs.”
