Abuja, Nigeria
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says the commission is willing to allow eligible voters to cast their votes in future elections without voter cards.
INEC said the move must be backed through amendments to the Electoral Act 2022 by the National Assembly.
Rotimi Oyekanmi, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of INEC, disclosed this in a chat with The PUNCH on Wednesday.
He said that INEC was committed to expanding voter access through technology, but emphasised that legal provisions must first be updated to accommodate any shift from the current PVC-only system.
In December last year, INEC chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, during a quarterly consultative meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) in Abuja, had put forward the initiative.
The chairman had highlighted the possibility of leveraging the growing role of technology through the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), in streamlining the country’s electoral process.
He explained that although PVCs will still be valid for current holders, future elections might permit voters to use slips issued by INEC or downloaded from its official website for accreditation.
This change, he added, would reduce costs, simplify logistics, and help prevent the misuse of voter cards.
“The commission also believes that with the introduction of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, the use of the Permanent Voters’ Cards as the sole means of identification for voter accreditation on Election Day should be reviewed.
“Those who already have the PVCs can still use them to vote, but going forward, computer-generated slips issued to the voter or even downloaded from the Commission’s website will suffice for voter accreditation.
“This will not only save cost, it will also eliminate the issues around the collection of PVCs and the diabolical practice of buying up the cards from voters in order to disenfranchise them,” Yakubu explained.
However, in the interview on Wednesday, Oyekanmi emphasised that any changes to the voting process would require corresponding amendments to the law.
“It is not our stand-alone that is important. Equally critical is what the existing law says. While the commission is favourably disposed to the recommendation by stakeholders (that PVCs alone should not be the only criterion for voting at an election), the law needs to be amended to reflect it,” he said.
