It is no longer news that registered voters in Nigeria are experiencing untold hardship in relentless effort to obtain their Permanent Voters Card (PVC) in a bid to perform their civic responsibility during the upcoming 2023 elections.
Most Nigerians who passed through the same rigorous process during the voter registration exercise are spending long hours on queues under the sun with so many other challenges. Some of them still go home daily without collecting their PVC after wasting productive time at the various offices of the Independent National Electoral Commisssion (INEC) across the country.
Out of the prevailing frustration and fear of being disenfranchised in the polls, Nigerians are seeking other shortcuts to quickly collect PVC without further waste of time.
At the INEC headquarters in Abuja, a mamoth crowd are currently besieging the office daily and are being made to write their names, obtain numbers and standing in long queues outside the gate, thereby causing traffic congestion on the road. Police vehicle can be seen parked conspicously to maintain law and order and ward off possible violent protest by disenchanted young people.
Our correspondent who arrived INEC headquarters as early as 8.am on Tuesday morning reports that the staff of the commission are cashing in on the desperation of Nigerians to extort them for faster collection of PVC. The recalcitrant INEC staff are charging between N20,000 and N30,000 to assist in express collection.
When DailyBlastNG correspondent approached a staff named Ibrahim, he demanded for N30,000 and later reduced the amount to N20,000. He said:
“It will be very difficult to get your PVC this year. The man I helped yesterday paid N30,000 but because of you, I can collect N20,000. I will come to town tomorrow if you have your money ready.”
When asked when INEC closes for work, he replied:
“We close work by 3.pm daily. We are closing for the year on Friday to resume by Wednesday next week. You know, Monday and Tuesday is public holidays.”
It will also be recalled that Nigerians paid as much as N10,000 before they could register as voters. Many could not register or transfer their PVC because of the money required by INEC staff to facilitate the process.
Observers insists that the existential challenges being experienced by Nigerians in the electoral process is caused by perceivable incompetence and corruption on the side of INEC staff.
This ugly situation will definitely affect the 2023 general elections negatively if not nipped in the bud.
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