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Grace Semudara
The Incident Centre for Election Atrocities (ICEA) has demanded an explanation from INEC on how the PVCs of citizens ended up in the custody of an individual who distributes at will to masses in return for payments.
ICEA tagged this as ‘An affront on Nigeria’s Democracy’, following a viral video of a government official demanding payment from citizens before issuing their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
According to the press release signed and delivered by the Head of ICEA Secretariat and Executive Director, Global Rights, Abiodun Baiyewu, the group said the atrocious act of demanding payment for Issuance of Permanent Voters Cards happened in Enugu State.
“The attention of the Incident Centre for Election Atrocities (ICEA) has been drawn to the viral video of a government official demanding payment from citizens before being issued their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs). Our preliminary investigation shows that the said woman’s name is Ms. Chinwendu Nnamani from Nchatancha, Nike, Enugu State, a Ward Councilor in Emene, Enugu State.
“Ms. Nnamani was captured in a two-minute video collecting the sum of One Thousand Naira each from registered voters before issuing them their PVCs,”
Baiyewu maintained that ICEA had earlier received similar reports of one Mr. Daniel who works at the Emir’s Palace in Piyanko in Karu Local Government Area of Nasarawa State, who was seen issuing PVCs to citizens in his house after demanding One Thousand Naira from the people who were designated to collect their PVCs at the Karshi ward in Nasarawa state.
According to her, Mr. Daniel who was also caught on tape claimed he was given the PVCs by an INEC staff at a fee, which suggests that the act was not an isolated incident.
“We are appalled by this atrocious act, and we consider it an affront to Nigeria’s democracy. We, therefore, demand an explanation from INEC on how the PVCs of citizens ended up in the custody of a politician who now distributes at will in return for payments.
“We also call on the Inspector General of Police and the DG of the Department of State Security to immediately arrest and prosecute the said politician and the INEC officials that are compromising the integrity of the electoral process by issuing these cards to Ms. Nnamani and others like her.
“This case must be met with the decisiveness it requires to serve as a deterrent to other officials of INEC who are colluding with politicians to undermine the integrity of the 2023 General Elections in Nigeria,” she emphasised.
