INEC Plans to Phase Out Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs)

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced plans to phase out the use of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, revealed this during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) at the INEC Conference Room in Abuja on Thursday.

The announcement is part of 142 recommendations made by the Commission, addressing issues such as preparedness, voter management, voter education, public communication, political party and candidate management.

Other areas covered by the recommendations include electoral operations, logistics, election personnel, partnerships, monitoring, election technology, result management, security, electoral offences, and the legal framework.

Yakubu noted that eight of these recommendations require legislative action from the National Assembly.

He explained that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), the use of PVCs as the sole means of voter identification on Election Day should be reconsidered.

However, he assured that those with existing PVCs could still use them to vote. Going forward, computer-generated slips issued to voters or downloaded from INEC’s website will be acceptable for voter accreditation.

Yakubu emphasized that this change would reduce costs and address challenges related to PVC collection. It would also help curb the practice of buying PVCs from voters to disenfranchise them.