PVC cannot expire, INEC tells Tinubu

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disabused the minds of Nigerians over a claim attributed to former Lagos State governor and presidential aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Ahmed Tinubu, that Nigerians should prepare to discard their existing Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) for new ones.

Tinubu was reported to have advised members of his party to start mobilising for new PVCs when they paid him a visit at his Abuja residence.

But reacting to his claim on the expiration of the PVCs, the Chief Technical Adviser to the chairman of INEC, Professor Bolade Eyinla, described the claim as misplaced. 

He advised Nigerians who have valid PVC not to bother to partake in the Continuous Voter’s Registration by INEC, as it would amount to double registration.

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He maintained that those who have registered against should not do so again.

“This information is not correct. The PVC issued to all previously registered voters remains valid. This kind of statement will certainly push eligible voters to register more than once thereby creating the problem of double and multiple registration,.” he said.

Rotimi Oyekanmi, the chief press secretary to the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, equally cautioned against multiple registration as he noted that it is a grave offence.

“In fact, double registration is an offence under our laws. Eligible Nigerians are entitled to register only once. Once a name appears on the National Register of Voters, it stays there permanently.

“One of the very few instances where a name could be removed from the register is if there’s a strong and verifiable proof that the person bearing the name has died,” he said.