INEC considers fresh voter registration ‘for a few days’

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it is considering fresh registration for eligible persons who have not registered and those having issues with their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

Emmanuel Idakwo, head of INEC office in Abuja Municipal Area Council, Karu, gave this hint in an interview with NAN in Abuja.

According to Idakwo, many unregistered persons troop into INEC office daily with various complaints, and the situation has put the commission under pressure, which may engender fresh registration for few days.

He said there were people with Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) but whose names were not found in the PVC registers.

Idakwo explained that such category of persons could be allowed to have new registration to enable them exercise their rights during the election.

He added that aside from the pressure from individuals, the commission was also mindful of President Goodluck Jonathan’s directive that every eligible Nigerian must be allowed to vote.

‘’There is need for such people to be given the chance to register,’’ he said.

On TVC holders whose names were missing on the permanent voter register, he said the problem may have arisen from absence of their thumb print on the temporary cards, saying such people needed to undertake new registration.

On whether INEC would allow the use of temporary card holders to vote in the elections, Idakwo said that the only way it would be permitted “is when the PVCs for the affected TVCs are not ready for collection”.

“But in a case where the PVCs are available in the various offices of INEC in the country, why can’t these persons with their TVCs go and collect their PVCs?” he asked.

He advised those who are yet to collect their PVCs to go to centres where they registered and collect the new cards, adding that collection centres in the country had been decentralised to ease collection of the PVCs.