The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has debunked rumors circulating that its staff at FESTAC Town, Lagos, are harvesting Permanent Voters Card (PVC) details for malicious reasons.
According to INEC, a video circulating showing its staff entering Voters Identification Numbers (VIN) I’m from the PVCs to their cellphones, is being misinterpreted.
The commission in a statement signed by the Nation Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, claims the act was part of an inventory of uncollected cards in line with the guidelines for PVC collection.
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The statement partly reads, “Actually, the video shows staff of the Commission harvesting VINS from PVCS, but only as part of an inventory of uncollected cards, provided for in the new Guidelines for the Management and Collection of PVCS, approved by the Commission for implementation nationwide.
“In its determination to enhance the rate of collection of PVCs, the Commission decided to establish a PVC collection process that includes an online component. The procedure entails that registered voters with access to the Internet could go to a dedicated portal to ascertain whether their PVCS are ready and to find their locations for subsequent collection. All they are required to do is to provide their details such as name, date of birth, state of registration, or the last six digits of the VINS that they
provided/received during registration, to locate their cards. This would improve the PVC collection process, but without prejudice to those who wish to go directly to the collection centres.
“For the newer PVCS, that is those from the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) that took place between January and July 2022, the VINS were harvested automatically and made available online. However, for the older uncollected PVCS that predate the new guideclines, their VINS must be harvested manually and painstakingly for upload
to the PVC collection portal (www.voters.inecnigeria.org). The portal will also improve the records of the Commission regarding collected and uncollected PVCs.”
The commission commended Nigerians for their dedication and contribution toward ensuring the conduct of a free, fair, and credible election but encouraged them to always verify the information before sharing.
