Buying of PVCs by politicians an “exercise in futility”, says INEC

Buy our reporter| The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has described the alleged mop-up of permanent voter cards (PVCs) in the north as an “exercise in futility”.

Festus Okoye, the INEC spokesperson, spoke who made the disclosure during an interview on Channels Television, said the possibility of voting with acquired voter cards is next to impossible, stressing that the act can only be used for voter suppression.

Okoye’s comment followed last allegation by the Northern Elders Forum (NEF) that some politicians were buying PVCs with N2,000 in the northern region.

But responding to the allegation, the INEC commissioner said, “there are two possibilities here. The first possibility is for you to dispossess someone of his or her PVCs and get the person not to vote, in order words, you are engaging in voter suppression,” he said.

“If you purchase someone’s PVC and the person does not vote, what that means is that one vote is out, so you are suppressing the vote in that particular constituency. That is one aspect.

“The second aspect of it is that some politicians are very optimistic. They normally plan for the rainy days, they are still thinking that there is a possibility that they can beat the BVAS, which will be used for voter accreditation and authentication.

“I believe that the exercise will be futile. Anybody who is purchasing PVCs is just engaging in an exercise in futility. The only thing the person can do with that PVC is to make sure that the owner does not vote on election day.

“But for you to come on election day to the polling unit with a PVC belonging to someone else and you attempt to vote with it, it is next to impossibility.

“The BVAS will not capture your fingerprint, it will not capture your facials.”