THE Labour Party (LP) has denounced some Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) personnel conduct during the current nationwide collection of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
Yunusa Tanko, the spokesperson for the LP presidential campaign committee, charged INEC officials for disappointing the majority of PVC collectors in various regions of the nation in a statement made on January 11th.
According to reports made available to the party, the exercise is progressing slowly, according to Tanko. He asserted that many Nigerians might lose their voting rights if nothing was done to address the issue.
The LP campaign spokesperson claimed that despite INEC decentralizing the process to ward levels for easy collection, many Nigerians who registered for PVCs “are still finding it difficult to acquire their voter’s cards.”
“People are grumbling about how slowly the PVCs are being sent to collectors, according to reports that have come in from all of Nigeria’s geopolitical zones”, he added.
“If you carefully examine the INEC schedule, you have fewer than 12 days remaining for PVC collection. Only 20 to 50 persons will receive their cards in the wards assigned for collection out of the approximately 500 PVC collectors.
If there is no ulterior motivation, what kind of miracle will INEC execute to ensure that Nigerians receive their PVCs in such a short amount of time?”
“The collection process began on December 12 and is scheduled to end on January 22. However, across the nation, many of our members are grumbling that the procedure is laborious and that INEC staff lazily stroll in and out of the wards.”
According to information that has reached us, they start work at 9 am and finish at 3 pm. The INEC crew often starts working again at 11 am each day.
“Today is January 11; by this month’s 22nd, the process will be over. What will happen to people who were unable to obtain a voter card?”
The party stressed that Nigerians’ fundamental right to vote in the upcoming election should under no circumstances be restricted.
The LP further urged INEC to inform Nigerians about “these purposefully constructed weak operations” before people begin to suspect that the supreme electoral authority is working with a secret script that we are unaware of.
The party also urged security organizations to increase protection at INEC locations nationwide to thwart any attempts by arsonists and vandals to rig the election.
