By Adadainfo
News making the rounds that a registered voter can vote without permanent voters’ cards is false.
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Mahmood Yakubu, stated this Wednesday at the ongoing induction for the commission’s resident electoral commissioners in Lagos.
The clarification was sequel to claims that registered voters could vote even without PVCs because the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines can validate voters without presenting their PVCs.
According to him, “The statement that voters can vote on election day without voters’ cards is misleading. It has been trending since last week. This is absolutely incorrect.
“For any person to vote, the person must be a registered voter issued with the permanent voters cards (PVC). The commission has consistently maintained the policy of ‘No PVC, No Voting’. Nothing has changed.
“It is a legal requirement. Contrary to that will violate the law. Nigerians should ignore suggestions that a person can vote on election day without a PVC.”
According to him, Section 47, subsection 1 of the Electoral Act 2022 is clear on the matter: “A person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a presiding officer for accreditation at the polling unit in the constituency in which his name is registered.
“Nobody can vote in an election without a voter’s card. The position of the law is therefore clear. The PVC remains a mandatory requirement for voting.”
