The Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, has announced that the commission will replace the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) with computer-generated slips for accreditation during elections.
Yakubu announced the new development on Thursday during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) held at the INEC Conference Room in Abuja which focused on the detailed issues of planning and reform learning from the experience of the 2023 General Election.
The INEC boss said that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), PVC will no longer be used as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day.
He said, “Having released our 524-page main report on the election, a copy of which is available on our website, we have consulted widely internally with our own officials and externally with all major stakeholders.
“With the conclusion of five major off-cycle Governorship elections and nine out of 21 bye-elections since the 2023 General Election, this is the most appropriate time for us to commence the implementation of the recommendations arising from our review of the General Election.”
He noted that from the internal and external engagements, the Commission has identified 142 recommendations dealing with the general state of preparedness, voter management, voter education and public communication, political parties and candidate management, electoral operations and logistics management.
Others are; election officials and personnel, partnership and collaboration, monitoring and supervision, election technology, voting and result management, election security, electoral offences and the electoral legal framework.
According to Yakubu, “Out of the 142 recommendations, 86 require administrative action by the Commission.
“It is therefore pertinent that we engage first with our Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) because of your frontline role in the implementation of the recommendations.
“This is followed by 48 recommendations that require action by a variety of stakeholders, including security agencies, mobile network operators, statutory bodies, political parties, transport unions, civil society organisations and the media.”
He said that on the legal review, there are eight recommendations that require legislative action by the National Assembly.
“Very soon, the Commission will make a presentation to the Joint Committee of the Senate and House of Representatives on Electoral Matters as they continue to deliberate on electoral reform.
“Among the major highlights of the Commission’s recommendations is the imperative of legal clarity in result management, with regard to manual transfer versus the electronic transmission of results.
“The Commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
“Those who already have the PVCs can still use them to vote, but going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation.
“This will not only save cost, it will also eliminate the issues around the collection of PVCs and the diabolical practice of buying up the cards from voters in order to disenfranchise them.”
