Stolen Borno PVCs won’t affect polls, says INEC

Despite allegations of theft of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Borno state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the result of elections in the state will not be affected in any way.

The Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and All Progressive Congress (APC) have been accusing each other of perpetrating the alleged theft, but Tukur Sa’ad, a professor and Borno resident electoral commissioner, has told NAN that whoever is behind the reported theft would have no advantage over his opponent.

“Well, I have not heard of the information on the alleged stealing or hijacking of PVCs by politicians in Borno; but if that is true, it is an exercise in futility,’’ Sa’ad said.

“Stealing or hijacking PVCs will not make impact at the polls because no individual can use another person’s PVC on the election date. INEC is going to place card-reading machines at every Polling Unit; the machine must recognise a voter before being issued with a ballot paper.’’

He said that the finger print of every voter must tally with that of the PVC before voting will be allowed to take place.

“All those buying PVCs or hijacking them are just wasting their time,” he said.

“As far as INEC is concerned, there is no chance for them on Election Day.”

He advised individuals whose PVCs were missing to exercise patience or take part in the Continuos Voter Registration (CVR) to get captured for the polls.

Sa’ad admitted that some polling units in the state were not presented with PVCs due to technical hitches.

“Some few polling units had no PVCs because the numbers of registered voters in those units are very few,” he said. “The machine decided to wipe out the register because of the low number of voters on the list.”

Sa’ad said INEC would continue with the CVR at the ward level even after the conclusion of PVCs distribution at polling units.

“Our vehicles have already left for Abuja to evacuate the remaining PVCs that have just arrived the country for distribution in the state,” he said.

“This means that people can still get their PVCs few days to the election or even on voting day. However, the CVR will continue at ward level for individuals who were not registered or those with genuine reason for re-registration.”