The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has dismissed allegations that some of its officials are involved in selling Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the September 21 Governorship Election in Edo State.
In response to these claims, INEC has challenged the civic group, Transparency for Electoral Systems Advocacy (TESA), to provide concrete evidence to back their accusations against the Electoral Officers.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, addressed the issue while responding to inquiries regarding the alleged sale of PVCs in Edo State. Oyekanmi firmly rejected the claims, emphasizing the need for credible evidence before such serious accusations could be taken seriously.
He said; “The allegation by the Transparency for Electoral Systems Advocacy TESA accusing the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC of selling uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards PVCs to politicians in Edo State is untrue. The Commission does not sell but issues PVCs free of charge to only registered voters.”
“Interestingly, this allegation follows the unfortunate pattern of similar narratives levelled against the Commission by partisan groups whenever off-cycle governorship or major elections are about to be conducted.”
“It is a well-known fact and we want to assure TESA, that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System BVAS, it has become practically impossible for any voter to use another person’s PVC to vote.”
“To that extent, any uncollected PVC cannot be used by anyone to vote during the Edo State Governorship Election. Politicians know this.”
“In fact, any person who attempts to do so will be arrested and handed over to law enforcement agents on Election Day. It is also an electoral offence for an individual to be in possession of another voter’s PVC.”
“Besides, the PVC collection process only began in 192 Wards in the State on Thursday 22nd August and will end today Monday 26th August. Thereafter, the collection of PVCs will move our 18 Local Government Offices from 28th August to 8th September 2024.”
“Therefore, the notion of ‘uncollected PVCs’ cannot suffice when, in fact, the collection process has just started.”
“However, we encourage TESA and other individuals with concrete evidence of unethical acts against any of our Electoral Officers to promptly avail the Commission of the evidence for immediate action”, Oyekanmi added.
