IN DETAIL: Ganduje can’t give Buhari 5m votes… what we learnt from PVC figures

Abdullahi Ganduje, governor of Kano, cannot statistically deliver five million votes to President Muhammadu Buhari in his state as he earlier promised.

An analysis by TheCable of the latest statistics released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) shows that while Kano has 5,457,747 registered voters, only 4,696,747 collected their biometric cards. If every voter in Kano were to vote for Buhari, Ganduje would still miss his target by 303,253 votes.

Buhari got 1.9 million votes in 2015 and has always won in the state since 2003 when he first contested in the presidential election.

In Lagos, there are now over 1.7 million fresh PVC holders — the highest increase across the country. In 2015, a total of 3,799,274 PVCs were collected in Lagos, compared to 5,531,389 in 2019.

INEC’s updated statistics gave the exact number of PVCs collected across Nigeria as of February 11 as 72,775,585 out of 84,004,084 registered voters — meaning 86.63 percent collection rate.

In 2015, there were 68,833,476 registered voters and 56,431,255 cards collected, representing 81.98 per cent collection rate. The overall percentage of collected PVCs increased by 4.65 percent point.

The electoral body had earlier released the number of registered voters per state.

LAGOS IS KING

In the state-by-state breakdown of the number of collected PVCs, Lagos tops the list with 5,531,389 people ready to cast their votes. This figure is followed by Kano with 4,696,747 and Kaduna with 3,648,831.

Ekiti state recorded the lowest number of collected PVCs with just 666,591, followed by Bayelsa with 769,509. Both states also have the lowest number of registered voters.

According to the commission, there are 11.2 million uncollected PVCs. Lagos also has the highest number at 1,038,902, followed by Kano with 570,115.

Katsina has the highest percentage (98.69%) of collected PVCs while Ogun state has the lowest (71.36%).

INCREASE IN COLLECTION ACROSS STATES — EXCEPT IMO, JIGAWA

All states recorded an increase in the number of registered voters and PVC collection, except Imo and Jigawa states.

In 2015, 1,803,030 voters were registered in Imo while 1,707,449 PVCs were collected. However, in 2019, the state had 2,272,293 registered voters but only 1,702,178 PVCs collected — a decrease of 5,271.

In Jigawa, 1,831,276 voters were registered in 2015 and 1,757,658 PVC were collected. However, in 2019, the state recorded 2,111,106 registered voters while 1,625,721 PVC were collected — 131,937 less.

The percentage of collected PVCs in the states also increased excluding eight states—Akwa Ibom, Bauchi, Bayelsa, Imo, Jigawa, Kadua, Sokoto and Zamfara states.