Residents Decry Illegal Charges For PVCs

RESIDENTS of Lagos State have raised concern over extortion and demand for money by staff of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), before releasing their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). 

   This is coming for the second time in the last three months, as a similar alarm was raised towards the end of last year, when officials of the electoral umpire engaged in the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in the state were indicted for demanding money to register prospective voters.

  A resident of Alimosho Local Government Area, who doesn’t want his name mentioned said himself and others who visited INEC’s office in the council area were asked to pay the sum of N300.00 after staying in the scorching sun for over two hours.

  He claimed that at the initial stage, they were reluctant to part with the said amount but when they considered the time wasted and the importance of the voter card, they yielded to the demand. He added that those who refused to part with the token were not given their cards.

  Also in Isolo local government, a middle-age man, who also experienced a similar fate said they were asked to pay N200 each, before they could be issued their cards. Considering the deadline given by the electoral body, those who could afford to pay did and they were issued their cards. 

  Said he, “I was approached to pay the sum of N200 to collect by PVC. At first, I did not want to do so, but when I looked at the precious time I had wasted trying to get it and the deadline given by the electoral body I had to give in and pay and I was given my card.”

  There were also reported cases of similar fraud in Mushin, Ejigbo and other council areas. 

  According to the victims, the INEC officials perpetrated the illegal act with the connivance of some local government officials who served as their fronts. First, they would approach an eligible voter if he was willing to get the card within minutes with the sum of N200 or he would prefer to stay on the queue. 

   Reports have it that in some areas, eligible voters pay as much as N1, 000 to get their cards. It was also gathered that in some council areas, where INEC officials do not demand money, they try to compel the electorate to either buy them edible goods or drinks. 

   When the Head, Public Affairs, INEC, Lagos State, Femi Akinbiyi was contacted on phone, he claimed the commission had apprehended two ad-hoc staff caught in the act and that the culprits had been disengaged immediately.

  He noted that the bulk of the ad-hoc staff engaged for the distribution exercise are NYSC members who come from different ethnic backgrounds and that it is most unlikely that they would embark on discriminatory acts.

  “Our findings, however, revealed that in a few places where we did not have the full complement of NYSC members, some members of the community whom we engaged for the exercise, two of them were found to have denied a few non-indigenes the collection of their cards. We have consequently relieved them of this assignment.

  “INEC regrets whatever embarrassment this might have caused the affected members of the public and also wishes to thank those who drew our attention to this act. All INEC staff are under firm instructions to give the PVCs to their rightful owners. In doing this, no money was to be demand or given,” he said.