2023 Elections: 87m PVCs Collected, Lagos Leads With 6m – INEC
… Receives a ‘substantial part’ of cash From CBN
*Summary of the Registered Voters ahead of the 2023 election;
* Number of Collected PVCs = 87,209,007
* Number of Uncollected PVCs = 6,259,229 collected
— INEC Nigeria (@inecnigeria) February 23, 2023
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 87 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have so far been collected ahead of tomorrow’s general elections.
INEC Chairman Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at the maiden briefing for the 2023 elections in Abuja on Thursday.
A breakdown of the figure showed that Lagos leads in the number of collected PVCs with 6,214,970. This is closely followed by Kano with 5,594,193, and Kaduna with 4,164, 473.
He noted that the current voter register has over 94 million voters but stated that the Commission will continue to clean it up with technology going forward.
According to him, of the number, 93.3 percent have collected their PVCs while 6,259,229 cards — which is 6.7 percent of PVCs — are still uncollected.
Meanwhile, ahead of tomorrow’s general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) maintains that voters are prohibited from going into the voting cubicle with their phones.
Chairman of INEC, Mahmood Yakubu, said this while expressing concern about vote buying at the maiden briefing on Thursday.
He, however, said he is hopeful that the vices will be dealt with
Noting that all materials have been distributed to states, he said the sensitive materials are currently being delivered to local government areas. He said that non sensitive materials were deployed two months ago.
He reiterated that 240 polling units do not have voters, and also said that staff to be deployed for the elections have been trained.
Also at the briefing, Yakubu disclosed that 87 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have so far been collected ahead of the upcoming general elections.
He noted that the current voter register contains over 94 million voters, but stated that the Commission will continue to clean it up with technology going forward.
The INEC chairman further revealed that 1,642,385 polling units and collation centre agents of political parties will participate in the elections.
He also disclosed that the Commission has fully recovered from the recent attacks on her facilities in some states.
According to Yakubu, the daily briefing is to update stakeholders as events unfold ahead of and during the election.
In a related development, the Commission says it has taken possession of a “substantial part” of the cash it requested from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) amid the naira scarcity.
The INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, confirmed receipt of the funds on Thursday during a press conference in Abuja on the commission’s activities two days before the presidential and National Assembly polls.
This comes two weeks after Yakubu on February 7 met with the CBN Governor, Godwin Emefiele, to address the need for cash for logistical operations in the conduct of the elections.
“The bulk of the small amount of cash that we have requested from the Central Bank of Nigeria is right now being released to the commission’s offices nationwide,” he said.
“In fact, a substantial part of it has already been received by our offices nationwide and this has greatly facilitated the movement of sensitive materials yesterday from the branches of the Central Bank to our local government areas.
“By tomorrow, which is Friday, we’ll batch them and then move them on Friday to the registration area centres. And then on Saturday early morning, they’ll be moved to the polling units for voting.”
Addressing security concerns surrounding the polls, Yakubu assured all stakeholders of a conducive environment for the electoral process to take place.
The INEC boss, in December 2022, noted that the commission had suffered 50 attacks in 15 states since 2019.
He however said the commission has bounced back and the security agencies are on the ground for the elections to provide adequate protection for voters, staff and observers.
“Several of the commission’s facilities were attacked by unknown assailants in various parts of the country.
“I am pleased that we have fully recovered from these attacks and we have been further assured that our facilities, staff, voters, observers, the media, and citizens will be safe during the election,” he said.
On vote-buying, Yakubu expressed conviction that INEC’s joint operations with other agencies before and on election day would “vastly reduce” the prospect of voter inducement which he described as not only illegal but also immoral.
“The ban on the use of mobile phones and photographic devices at the voting cubicles is still in force. Our arrangement of placing the ballot boxes near the voting cubicles and away from the party agents remains,” he said.
