2019: Return PVC Registration, Distribution To Polling Units, Extend Closing Date, ADP Tells INEC.

By ADP, Lagos State Chapter
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The Action Democratic Party (ADP) Lagos state chapter has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to review it's process of registration and collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVC).

The party in a statement issued on Tuesday by the Lagos State Publicity Secretary of the Party, Prince Adelaja Adeoye, decried the slow pace of registration, distribution and time wasting process of issuing PVC to Lagosians. The party appealed to the Chairman of the Commission, Professor Mahmood Yakubu to review the process for effectiveness and to the benefit of all Nigerians.

ADP said, INEC should revert back to the former system, where registration and collection are done at the various polling units, that if need be, INEC should engage more hands to make the process easier and faster for electorate. The party also said that, the registration officers needs to be monitored because, some of them are in the habit of making the process of card issuance cumbersome for the electorate.

ADP noted that the field reports at their disposal from their ongoing PVC sensitization drive across the 20 Local Government Areas (LGA) and 37 Local Council Development Areas (LCDA) in Lagos State reveals that more efforts should be added by INEC to make the process successful, saying that if the commission want the good people of Lagos State to participate adequately in the electioneering process of registering, selecting, voting and protecting their votes in the coming 2019 elections, the PVC awareness, voters education and sensitization programme must be doubled.

According to ADP, from the field reports, many registered voters cannot locate their PVCs while hundred of thousands of them who made efforts to register are frustrated by shortage of biometric capture machines, epileptic network, distance of registration centers to their home or place of work, few registration points, longer queue and attitude of some of the INEC officials amongst other militating issues.

ADP urge INEC to set up call centers where the owners of the over 1.4 million uncollected cards in Lagos State in their possession can be easily distributed, also advising that they can send bulk SMS to the owners since they already have their contact details in their database. The party stated further that PVCs owners whose address can be verified should be able to take delivery of their cards via postal service.

ADP said these are few out of many strategies the commission can adopt to make the distribution of uncollected PVCs easier, faster and also to absolve themselves from the allegations that the uncollected cards are being kept deliberately to rig elections.

The party said, INEC should not make the process look like its a deliberate attempt to disenfranchise Lagosians from obtaining their PVC because same INEC issued the cards seamlessly in 2010 to Nigerians and that the newly adopted system may not be to the best interest of Nigerians.

ADP however called on the INEC to extend the closing date of registration and collection of PVCs, stating that the August 17 closure will shut the door at millions of potential voters, that many Nigerians who genuinely desire to register are frustrated each time they want to register by the cumbersome process of registration and distribution currently adopted by INEC.

SIGNED:
Prince Adelaja Adeoye
Publicity Secretary
ADP, Lagos State Chapter