The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that it has launched an investigation to verify the claim that Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) were recently discovered in a forest in Anambra State, Nigeria.
This announcement was made in response to a viral video that surfaced a few days ago, which showed a large number of PVCs being displayed with the assertion that they were discovered by a hunter while hunting in the forest in Nnewi North, Anambra State.
However, INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, has questioned the authenticity of the claim and has called on those who made the claim to provide more information on how and where they found the PVCs.
Okoye further stated that if the PVCs are authentic, INEC would investigate how they ended up in the forest and why they were not collected by their rightful owners.
The discovery of the PVCs in the forest has raised concerns about the credibility of the upcoming general elections in Nigeria, scheduled to take place on February 25th, 2023.
The PVCs are essential for Nigerians to participate in the electoral process, and their disappearance or discovery in unexpected places could affect the outcome of the elections.
INEC has emphasized the importance of safeguarding PVCs and has urged voters to keep them safe and secure.
It is crucial that all PVCs are collected and used appropriately to ensure a free, fair and credible electoral process.
INEC has assured Nigerians that it is committed to ensuring the credibility and transparency of the elections and will take all necessary steps to achieve this.
“We are aware that there are some people and some forces that want to delegitimize this particular election. Now the total number of registered voters in that particular local government hovers around 250,000 but I watched that video and they were talking about millions of PVCs that were found.
“Incidentally, in that particular local government, we have almost over 99% of PVCs already collected. Now we have instructed our Resident Electoral Commissioner and Electoral Officer for that particular local government to make a report to the DSS and to the police.
“And then those people responsible for that particular incident must be invited, let them tell us where they found those PVCs, how they found those PVCs because we need to investigate and know whether the PVCs are from the Commission or whether some people cloned those PVCs in order to delegitimize the work of the Commission and also delegitimize the electoral process,” Okoye said.
Assuring that the INEC has made necessary reports on the issue, Okoye wondered how PVCs were found in millions for a local government with about 200,000 registered voters.
He said the people that found the PVCs and the radio station it was allegedly displayed should be called in the Department of Security Services for more explanations.
“So, if the PVSc were found in millions for a local government that registered just around 200,000 then some people have a question to answer, let those who found the PVCs and the radio station where those PVCs were displayed go to the DSS and police and make a report and if they don’t make that particular report.
“We have also instructed that the report should be made and they should be called in to come and account for how they found the PVCs because we have not heard of a situation where hunters are now hunting PVCs rather than hunting animals in the forest. So let them come and explain to us how they came about hunting PVCs in the forest,” Okoye added.