Man found with 101 PVCs in Sokoto bags one-year jail term

A magistrate Court sitting in Sokoto has sentenced one Nasiru Idris, who was found to be in possession of 101 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to a year of imprisonment.

INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye disclosed this in a statement on Sunday.

He said the offence was in contravention of Sections 117 and 145 of the Electoral Act 2022.

“In the last couple of weeks, the Nigeria Police has arrested some individuals found to be in illegal possession of voters’ cards in some States of the Federation. In one case, the Police concluded the investigation and handed over the case file to the Commission resulting in the successful prosecution of one Nasiru Idris at a Magistrate Court in Sokoto who was found to be in possession of 101 PVCs in contravention of Sections 117 and 145 of the Electoral Act 2002. He has been sentenced to a year in prison”, Okoye stated.

He disclosed that the Police in Kano State have also arrested a man who was found to be in possession of 367 PVCs.

Okoye who said the suspect had been charged to Court and the Commission is pursuing his prosecution, assured of the commission’s commitment to continue to pursue all violators of the Electoral Act and ensure their diligent prosecution.

Meanwhile, following the end of the statutory period for the display of the register of voters for claims and objections, Okoye stressed INEC’s readiness to make the collection of PVCs as seamless as possible.

To this effect, he said a Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) had been developed.

“This will be among the issues to be discussed and finalised at a retreat holding in Lagos from November 28 to December 2, 2022, involving all the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) from the 36 States of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

“At the end of the retreat, the Commission will release the dates as well as the detailed procedure for the immediate collection of PVCs nationwide.

“The Commission appreciates the patience and understanding of Nigerians, especially those who registered as voters or applied for transfer/replacement of their cards from January to July 2022. In making the cards available for collection, the Commission is also working to ensure that the process is hitch-free”, he stated.