Anger and frustration were the words, across many parts of the country, yesterday, as the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, ended the collection of the Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, 20 days to the February 25 presidential poll.
Many centres recorded huge turnouts of registrants in spite of the biting fuel and Naira scarcities in the country. Although the exercise was seamless in many collection centres, a host of registrants had tales of woes to tell. Some said their cards had not been printed and INEC officials took their phone numbers for a follow-up.
Last week, the INEC extended the deadline to February 5 and ruled out further extension. As of press time the electoral umpire has not extended the exercise fueling fears that millions of registrants who have not collected the prized document are automatically excluded and disenfranchised in the 2023 general polls.
Currently, the electoral body said 83,487 PVCs have not been collected in Kano and 75 percent of cards have been distributed in Kaduna.
Lagos residents seek further extension of the deadline
In Lagos, lamentation rained as some registered voters who could not collect their cards after many attempts appealed to the INEC to extend the deadline so that they would not be disenfranchised.
It was, however, not all gloomy as testimonies differ from one individual to another, depending on how quick or stressful the collection was to them.
