INEC extended the PVC collection deadline by an additional one week following a meeting of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs)
By Emma Ogbuehi
Apparently bowing to demand by a cross section of Nigerians, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to February 5, 2023.
This is the second time the commission would be acceding to request by Nigerians for the collection deadline to be extended.
INEC had earlier fixed the collection deadline as Sunday, 22nd January, 2023 but in a bid to ensure that more voters were accommodated, it extended the period to 29.
As in the first extension the INEC National Commissioner for information, Festus Okoye said the time frame has been pushed forward by one week.
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He said the move followed a meeting of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).
“Arising from reports from the various States and discussions with Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission has decided to further extend PVC collection in all its Local Government Offices nationwide by an additional one week. The ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide will therefore continue and end on 5th February 2023,” Okoye said in a statement on Saturday.
“This is the second time the Commission is extending PVC collection nationwide and this will be the last extension of the exercise. The collection period has further been extended by an additional two hours and will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.”
He encouraged Nigerians who are yet to pick their PVCs to do so but hailed the progress made so far in the exercise.
“The Commission once again salutes the patience and doggedness of citizens,” Okoye’s statement added.
INEC, therefore, called on Nigerians to report sharp practices in PVC collection centres, assuring that the Commission will act on them.
“The Commission will continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and will ensure that no Nigerian is disadvantaged and all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs,” it said.