News
Over Six Million Uncollected PVCs To Be Destroyed By INEC In New Policy Recommendation
…political parties differ on Implementation
The Independent National Electoral Commission is contemplating a policy to withdraw and destroy Permanent Voter Cards that remain uncollected for a decade.
This recommendation was among 208 proposals arising from the commission’s review of the 2023 general elections.
The move stemmed from the persistent issue of unclaimed PVCs, with over six million cards still uncollected as of the 2023 elections, including many issued as far back as 2015.
Stakeholders in the post-election review recommended that INEC address the backlog of uncollected PVCs by implementing a policy to withdraw PVCs that remain uncollected for extended periods, starting with cards issued in 2015.
The rationale is that these cards are unlikely to be claimed, and their retention clogs the voter management system.
“Following the publication of the Register of Voters, the commission made available the PVCs for collection by voters on December 12, 2022. The exercise was initially planned to end on the 22nd of January 2023. However, the fact that a huge number of registered voters had yet to collect their PVCs forced the commission to extend the deadline to the 5th of February 2023 after devolving the collection to the ward level between January 6-15, 2023 to ease the process.
“The low rate of PVC collection and other related challenges are illustrative of the problem of processing and managing voters in Nigeria. To increase the rate of collection of PVCs, the commission implemented a policy that made it possible for voters to locate their PVCs online and subsequently pick them up. Several CSOs supported the commission’s drive to increase PVC collection by working with INEC’s state/FCT Offices to record all uncollected PVCs and to inform their owners where and how to collect them.
“With support from the development partners, some of the CSOs also created information centres in selected states and the FCT to assist voters locate and collect their PVCs. Despite these efforts, over six million PVCs remained uncollected, many of them dating back to 2015.
Consequently, one recommendation from the review was that the commission should consider withdrawing PVCs issued in 2015 since it is not clear if the owners will ever collect them,” INEC said.
Also, the commission proposed plans to modernise Nigeria’s electoral process, including the gradual phase-out of PVCs and the introduction of diaspora voting.
It was explained that with the adoption of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, PVCs may no longer be necessary for voter accreditation. Instead, voters could use computer-generated slips or credentials downloaded from the commission’s website.
“Unlike the SCR, the voters’ register is now resident in the BVAS. The new device does not read and extract voters’ details from the PVC. Moreover, the Electoral Act 2022 has made biometric accreditation (fingerprint or facial) mandatory for voting.
“The utility of the PVC is now limited to voter identification. It is therefore possible to identify voters using their registration slips which obviates the need for PVCs, the cost of producing them, the logistics for their distribution and the fact that voters without them are unable to vote, thus raising serious issues of disenfranchisement. With the BVAS, voters can be identified using their registration slips otherwise known as the Temporary Voter’s Card and accredited biometrically without the need for a plastic PVC.
“However, such a step requires the amendment of Section 47(1) of the Electoral Act 2022 which makes the presentation of the card (PVC) to the PO at the PU mandatory before accreditation and voting,” the recommendation said.
Political parties in the country hold differing opinions about INEC’s plan to destroy uncollected PVCs.
In an interview, the National Legal Adviser of the Labour Party, Kehinde Edun, believed that the initiative was in order, stressing that there was a need to declutter the voters register, especially if it is confirmed that many of those registered have died.
He said, “I am sure most of those uncollected PVCs must have been as a result of irregularities in the process of registration and all that. If truly people register to vote and register as eligible electorate, they must have collected over a long period, after being given enough time.
“But I believe no system is perfect. So I think destroying them may be in order. If people have not collected over a long period, there is a likelihood those lapses were the result of some irregularities in the process of registration.”
But the Peoples Democratic Party raised a concern that destroying uncollected PVCs could be another ploy by INEC to distract Nigerians.
The PDP Deputy National Youth Leader, Timothy Osadolor, who spoke to journalists said INEC had given Nigerians enough reasons to be suspicious.
He asserted that people refused to collect the PVCs because they had lost faith in INEC to make their votes count during elections.
Osadolor said, “How do you contemplate destroying cards produced with billions of taxpayers’ money because INEC has failed the credibility and integrity test that has made millions of Nigerians lose faith in the commission’s ability to organise free, fair and credible elections?
“I urge INEC to, as a matter of immediate action, begin an image laundering and rebranding campaign to convince Nigerians and stakeholders that the commission is ready to be truly independent in spelling, actions and character.”
Also, the New Nigeria People’s Party advised INEC to reconsider the plan to destroy PVCs.
The National Publicity Secretary of the NNPP, Ladipo Johnson, said destroying over six million voter cards would amount to sheer waste of money.
He said, “If people register and haven’t come to collect over a long period of time unless they know those people have passed on, I think the cards should not be destroyed as long as they are in safekeeping.
“If you destroy about six million PVCs, and all of a sudden, some of the owners show up and want to vote, it will cost God-knows-how-much to register them again. It’s a waste of money.”
However, some Senior Advocate of Nigeria, who spoke to newsmen backed INEC to destroy the uncollected PVCs, asserting that there are no legal impediments.
A former Chairman of the Presidential Advisory Committee Against Corruption, Prof. Itse Sagay (SAN), said some of the uncollected PVCs were likely products of double registration.
“They (uncollected PVCs) are taking space. My suspicion is that the owners don’t exist. It is double fraudulent registration by a lot of people. Just as I am sure that we are not up to 200 million neither do I believe that we are up to 90 million registered voters when only 20 percent of that is always voting. There is a lot of fake information and fake facts in this country and I’m sure this is part of it. So, let them destroy the uncollected PVCs,” he said.
The Abia State University, Uturu, has placed an Economics lecturer, Prof. Nnamdi Nwaeze, on immediate suspension over comments he made about the earnings of university professors.
Nwaeze, a lecturer in the Department of Economics, Faculty of Economics and Management Sciences, reportedly made the remarks in posts published on his Facebook account.
In the posts, he alleged that some professors at the university take home less than N400,000 monthly.
He also compared the earnings of the academics with those of commercial tricycle operators, popularly known as Keke riders, claiming that some riders could earn more cumulatively than university professors.
The university authorities described the lecturer’s social media comments as damaging to the interests of the institution.
The suspension was announced in a statement issued by the university’s Public Relations Officer and Deputy Registrar, Chijioke Nwogu.
Management also disclosed that it had constituted a panel to investigate the allegations and examine the circumstances surrounding the lecturer’s statements.
The outcome of the investigation is expected to determine the university’s next course of action.
By Okey Maduforo Awka
The crisis over who is the candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress( NDC) for Anaocha 1 state Constituency in Anambra state has deepened following confirmation that neither incumbent Lawmaker Hon Nkechi Ogbuefi nor Chief Azubuike Okoye is the candidate of the party .
The party in the state yesterday confirmed that Mr Kevin Alike is the candidate of the party for Anaocha Constituency 1 and his name has already been uploaded at the portal of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
Further more, the candidate for Anaocha Constituency 2 is yet undecided as the battle has remained unsettled.
Recall that Hon Nkechi Ogbuefi had accused Chief Azubuike Okoye of parading himself as the candidate of the party contending that as an incumbent Lawmaker, the party had granted all serving lawmakers in the party waver during the conduct of the party primary elections upon which she emerged as candidate.
But Hon Azubuike Okoye had dismissed the allegation adding that it is the duty of INEC to make public who the candidate is and that he would not join issues with the reports on Social Media.
Ogbuefi had told reporters that when she reported the matter to the state Chairman of the party Chief Ikem Uzoezie he told her to ignore the claim that Mr Peter Obi personally submitted her name as candidate.
But in a turn of events, the Chairman Ikem Uzoezie told reporters that the candidate for Anaocha 1 state Constituency is Mr Kevin Alike whose name has been uploaded into the portal of INEC.
Uzuezie further stated that the case of Anaocha Constituency 2 is yet to be decided yet adding that the two aspirants for the ticket is Hon Azubuike Okoye and Eric Maduagwu and they when all arrangements are concluded, the candidate for Anaocha 2 Constituency would be made public.
By Okey Maduforo, Awka
About 15 persons have reportedly died, while more than 200 buildings are said to be at risk of collapse as a result of extensive sand mining activities in Uga Community, Aguata Local Government Area of Anambra State.
The sand mining business has continued to worsen gully erosion in the community, which is already known to be one of the erosion-devastated areas of the state.
More worrisome is the alleged destruction of three newly constructed roads in the area by heavy-duty trucks that frequently visit the mining sites to evacuate sand, a development residents said was threatening road infrastructure in the community.
Recall that the Anambra State Government, through the Commissioner for Environment, Dr Clem Aguiyi, had banned sand excavation in some parts of the state, particularly in Aguata, Orumba North and Orumba South Local Government Areas.
The government also established a task force to monitor sand mining activities in the affected communities, warning that it would not tolerate activities capable of worsening environmental degradation. The government had also lamented that the landmass of Anambra State was shrinking daily due to the menace of gully erosion.
However, residents of Uga Community alleged that some youths had been engaged by sand miners to create insecurity in parts of the community, thereby causing division within the Town Union Youth Association.
When reporters visited Umudimishi Village in Uga, residents protested and appealed to Governor Charles Soludo to visit the area on a fact-finding mission and take urgent steps to halt the activities of the sand miners.
Speaking, the Chairman of Umudimishi Village, Uga, Nze Jude Ibeabuchukwu Ugochukwu, said the community had battled gully erosion for decades.
He said, “We have been victims of gully erosion. Since I was born, I grew up to see gully erosion in my town.
“We have about five gully erosion sites in my area, including one that came from our neighbouring town, Umueze, another one in our town and others in different locations.
“We have been witnessing gully erosion for over 37 years now, but successive governments and the villagers have been working on the gullies.”
Ugochukwu lamented that the effect of sand mining had also discouraged some youths from engaging in legitimate businesses and trades.
“Every morning, they visit the mining sites because of the pittance they get from there, and they don’t want to be useful to themselves.
“The mining has gotten to residential areas where people are living, such as Umudimishi, Awarasi and Agbakuwa villages.
“So far, about 200 buildings are now at risk of gully erosion, and before the end of this year, or within the next five months, at least 70 houses could be destroyed by gully erosion caused by sand mining activities in our town,” he said.
He maintained that the land belonged to the town and alleged that the community did not authorise anyone to carry out sand mining in the area.
According to him, the initial miners, known as Morning Star, used to excavate sand manually before the introduction of excavators.
“Today, the excavators pay N400 per load and some money to the youths of our community,” he alleged.
The community leader further lamented that the sand mining activities had damaged roads constructed by the Soludo administration, alleging that the heavy trucks conveying sand had weakened the newly constructed roads.
“Roads such as the Obizi Road, Umueze Road, Ugwu-Onyeocha Road to Nkwo-Uga and Awarasi are being destroyed.
“We call on the government to visit these areas with a fact-finding team to assess the level of environmental degradation as well as the destruction of the newly constructed roads,” he said.
Similarly, the Chairman of the Youths in Umudimishi Village, Mr Ifeanyichukwu Agbara, claimed that more than 15 people had died in connection with activities at the mining sites, while some were allegedly killed by gunmen.
He said the youth leadership had been trying to discourage young people from depending on sand mining as a source of livelihood.
“We have been fighting to ensure that our youths get into something meaningful and do not depend on sand mining.
“They don’t want to learn any trade. All they do is go to the beach site to mine sand.
“Some of our youths have formed a parallel youth organisation against the official youth organisation.
“They call themselves Ekwere-Kwesike. They pay them N1,000 for each tipper load, which they share every day,” he alleged.
Agbara said the mining activities had claimed the lives of several youths in the community, particularly when mining pits collapsed.
“This beach-site business has killed a lot of youths in the town because sometimes the sites collapse while the youths are working there.
“We have had about seven youths die on the site. Sometime ago, it killed four other people at the same time.
“Also, there was an incident where some gunmen stormed the site and opened fire on the people working there and killed about three of them.
“The total number of deaths is about 15. That is why we are calling on the government to come and help us. We are ready to take the government to the affected areas,” he lamented.
The residents urged the state government to urgently investigate the allegations, assess the extent of environmental degradation and take steps to protect lives, homes and road infrastructure in the affected parts of Uga Community.
18-Year-Old Drowns in Kano Pond
The Kano State Fire Service has confirmed the death of 18-year-old Abdullahi Aminu, who drowned after falling into a pond at Kofar Gabas in Danbatta Local Government Area of the state.
The Director of the Kano State Fire Service, Sani Anas, disclosed this in a statement signed by the service’s Public Relations Officer, Saminu Abdullahi, on Wednesday in Kano.
According to the statement, the incident occurred on Tuesday afternoon.
Abdullahi said the service received a distress call from the Danbatta Fire Station at about 3:28 p.m. from Aminu Lawan, the victim’s father, who reported that his son had drowned in the pond.
“Upon receiving the report, we immediately deployed our rescue team to the scene,” he said.
He said the victim was eventually brought out of the pond dead.
The spokesperson said the cause of the incident was still under investigation, adding that the deceased was later handed over to the Secretary to the District Head of Danbatta, Alhaji Baba Ado Sarkin Bai.
Abdullahi sympathised with the family of the deceased and urged residents to exercise caution around ponds and waterways, particularly during the rainy season.
(NAN)
Passengers were left stranded in Abuja and Lagos on Tuesday as aviation unions shut down operations of Air Peace over allegations that the airline was frustrating workers’ unionisation and withholding ticket sales charges owed to the Nigerian Civil Aviation Authority (NCAA).
The disruption affected flights in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu, with about 70 flights reportedly grounded.
The situation escalated when an Air Peace driver allegedly drove a large bus onto the airside during the unions’ picketing exercise.
The NCAA confirmed the incident and said the driver could face prosecution for allegedly obstructing movement within the airside. The Federal Airports Authority of Nigeria (FAAN) subsequently towed the vehicle away.
NCAA Director of Public Affairs and Consumer Protection, Michael Achimugu, said the authority had ordered that the driver be identified and arrested.
He said, “During the enforcement of the picketing, a driver drove the large bus to the runway, parked and left the place. We have ordered that the driver in question be identified and arrested for onward prosecution. How can somebody block the runway? That is seriously uncalled for. We will investigate, and the necessary portions of the Act will be invoked.”
However, Air Peace spokesperson, Efe Whiskey-Osifo, denied that the bus blocked the runway.
The incident occurred as the National Union of Air Transport Employees (NUATE), Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN) and National Association of Aircraft Pilots and Engineers (NAAPE), backed by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) and Trade Union Congress (TUC), commenced picketing of Air Peace.
The unions accused the airline of frustrating workers’ efforts to unionise and failing to remit the five per cent Ticket Sales Charge (TSC) allegedly owed to the NCAA.
A NUATE official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, claimed that airlines under the Airline Operators of Nigeria (AON) owed about N25bn in TSC, with Air Peace accounting for approximately N15bn.
“There’s a meeting between the airline operators association. You are aware of the cause of the strike: TSC issues amounting to about N25bn. The total accrued to AON is N25bn.
“Air Peace is having the highest amount of N15bn, and secondly, they are denying airline workers of organising and to form unions, which is a fundamental right. Those are the two things that we are fighting for,” the official said.
The unions had earlier issued three warnings to airlines over the alleged non-remittance of the charge before threatening to commence picketing.
The five per cent TSC is collected from passengers on airline tickets and is required to be remitted to the NCAA for distribution among relevant aviation agencies to support their operations.
Air Peace, however, rejected the allegations, insisting that it had remitted the TSC to the NCAA and questioning why its operations were singled out for disruption.
Whiskey-Osifo said the unions targeted Air Peace’s major operational hubs in Lagos, Abuja and Enugu, effectively grounding its network.
“The unions picketed our operations across board. Lagos, Enugu, Abuja, stopping those places, which are our hubs, those places where we do night stops. So they basically grounded all our operations,” he said.
He added that while the unions had threatened to picket all Nigerian airlines, other carriers, including Ibom Air, Enugu Air and Aero, operated flights.
“They stated that they were going to picket all Nigerian airlines. However, the likes of Ibom Air, Enugu Air, even Aero, operated flights today. And you solely picked on only Air Peace, disrupting flights, the first flight out of Lagos, Abuja, and Enugu,” he said.
The Air Peace spokesperson also said the airline’s workers did not want to join the unions.
“The reason why they are singling out Air Peace is that Air Peace staff, number one, don’t want to join the unions. We don’t want to join at all,” he said.
According to him, Air Peace workers had staged a peaceful protest against unionisation but alleged that union members later infiltrated the demonstration and caused a confrontation.
“We came out to protest peacefully, but unfortunately, they hampered our operations,” he said.
The unions, however, maintained that workers’ right to organise was non-negotiable.
Achimugu said the AON had appealed to the unions to suspend the picketing to allow discussions with the affected airlines, particularly Air Peace, whose chairman is also a senior executive of the association.
“The AON pleaded with the unions to suspend it while they schedule a meeting, especially with Air Peace management,” he said, adding that the unions had been informed that a meeting could take place on Wednesday.
The NCAA spokesperson said the industrial action affected several airlines operating from specific terminals in Lagos and Abuja.
“I know that a number of airlines operating from specific terminals in Lagos and Abuja were disrupted. Take, for instance, in Abuja, a terminal that was shut down; it affected airlines like Air Peace, Aero and a host of others,” he said.
By Tuesday evening, Air Peace said it had begun restoring its operations.
“We are operating flights already. Flights will operate today irrespective of the situation,” the airline said.
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