MultiChoice backs INEC’s PVC collection drive

Leading video entertainment service provider, MultiChoice Nigeria, has thrown its weight behind the Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) nationwide Permanent Voter Card (PVC) collection drive.

The PVC, which is part of the electoral umpire’s measures to improve the credibility of the electoral process through identity theft elimination, is a prerequisite for participation in the coming general elections.

MultiChoice Nigeria’s support is in the shape of regular and free broadcast of INEC’s messages on PVC collection on its DStv and GOtv platforms.

The broadcast will, in particular, be targeted at youth, overwhelmingly the country’s biggest voting demographic category, through DStv channel 198 and GOtv channel 29.

The two channels are dedicated to the round-the-clock broadcast of BB Titans, this year’s edition of the Big Brother television reality show, which launched, yesterday, and is mostly watched by the youth.

INEC has also called on registered voters across the country who are yet to collect their PVCs, those who have requested for the transfer of their registration, and those seeking to replace lost or damaged PVCs to visit the electoral body’s offices in the local council areas they intend to vote and collect their PVCs.

The process, which began on December 12, 2022, and runs between 9:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m., from Monday through Sunday, will terminate on January 22.

The electoral umpire also announced that it would extend PVC collection to the ward level, where those who are unable to collect at its council offices can pick up their cards from January 6 to 15, after which it would revert to its council offices till the terminal date of January 22.

Explaining the decision to support INEC’s PVC collection campaign, Mr. John Ugbe, Chief Executive Officer, MultiChoice Nigeria, said the company is committed to Nigeria’s democratic development, especially the credibility of electoral processes and procedures.

These, he said, can only be accelerated through mass participation, especially by the youth, and begins with the possession of valid means of voting, which is the PVC.

Ugbe said: “As a Nigerian company, we are invested in the country’s democratic advancement through mass participation and high-fidelity electoral procedures and process, the reason we are backing INEC’s PVC collection drive.

“Our support, in particular, is aimed at getting Nigerians to participate in the elections, and this begins with the possession of a PVC, which is the sole eligibility criterion.”

According to the timetable released by INEC, the general elections will kick off on February 25 with the presidential and National Assembly elections and end on March 11 with the conduct of the governorship elections and those into states Houses of Assembly.