2023 election: Step by step guide on how to collect your PVC

With six weeks to go to Nigeria’s general elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has extended the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) nationwide by one week.

INEC National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, said that the deadline for the collection of PVCs has been shifted to Sunday, January 29 to ensure that every registered voter has ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming elections.

“For this reason, the timeframe for the collection of PVCs is extended by seven days. Instead of ending on January 22, 2023, the collection of PVCs will continue until January 29, 2023. At the moment, the period of collection is between 9.00 a.m. to 3.00 p.m. daily (including Saturdays and Sundays),” Okoye said.

He stated that it has printed over 13,868,441 PVCs for all new valid registrants as well as applicants for transfer or replacement of cards.

According to the figures released by INEC, the total number of registered voters for the 2023 general election stands at 93,469,008.

The electoral body figures also show that the North-West geopolitical zone has the highest number of registered voters with 22,255,562, while the South-West has 17,958,966 registered voters.

The number of registered voters in the North-Central is 15,363,731, while the South-South has 14,440,714, the North-East has 12,542,429  and the South-East has a total of 10,907,606. 

INEC however, lament that it has recorded a low turnout for the collection of PVCs despite a week extension of the deadline. About 6.7 million eligible voters are yet to collect their  PVCs across the 17 states including Abuja, the FCT as of January 4, 2023.

Here is a step-by-step guide on how to collect your PVC

Whether as a new or existing registered voter, you are to visit the state where you registered.

Take the slip given to you during voter registration along.

Locate the INEC office that was specified in the slip within your local government area (LGA).

When you get to the INEC collection centre, newly registered voters are to present the slip given to them to the officials. At the same time, voters who also applied to change their voting location are required to submit their slips.

Meanwhile registered voters with temporary voter’s cards are advised to go to the INEC office in the LGA to exchange their temporary voter’s card for a permanent voters card.

Also, INEC has further simplified the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards at the ward level. Registered voters can now send a text message containing their information to any of the two dedicated numbers below to locate their collection points.

To locate your INEC PVC collection centres for ward-level collection across the 36 states click the link below.

https://inecnigeria.org/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/PVC-Collection-centers-for-Ward-level-1.pdf