… Says no cause for alarm, PVCs to be used in all elections
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), says all Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), issued by the Commission in 2011, and after are still valid for voting.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman,Mr Rotimi Onyekami,who made this known in a statement on Friday in Abuja said that the PVCs can still be used without revalidation.
While affirming that INEC intended to use a new multipurpose gadget known as INEC Voters Enrollment Device ( IVED) , he said the Permanent Voters Card issued in 2011 will be used in all elections including the upcoming Abuja Council elections, the Ekiti,Osun and the 2023 general elections.
The clarification comes a few days after the National Leader of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Ahmed Bola Tinubu, said that the PVCs held by the citizenry have all expired.
Tinubu an aspirant of the 2023 general elections, , has since apologised for the misleading statement, including any form of confusion it may have spirited, however, the confusion caused by the Jagaban’s statement has refused to go away as many Nigerians still believe that their PVCs have expired and needed revalidation.
“To be sure, PVCs issued in 2011 and after do not need any revalidation.
“It is also not true that the Commission will use the so-called ‘New Card Reader’ for the 2023 General Election.
“What the Commission intends to use is a multi-purpose gadget, known as the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED). It is currently being used for the physical registration of voters. During an election, it will facilitate the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which provides for both fingerprint and facial authentication.
“The device will also be used to upload individual polling unit election results to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) in real time on election day.
“The general public should therefore disregard the fake news making the rounds that the PVCs issued in 2011 need revalidation. There is no need to revalidate any PVC issued by INEC for election purposes.”
