by Adedayo Ademuwagun

It’s just two weeks before the elections start and a lot of people still haven’t got their PVC. The PVC distribution is going really badly in some parts of Lagos.

Alimosho is the largest LGA in the state. Most people in the area who have registered and have a temporary voter card still haven’t been issued a PVC. There are several complications. Some people have the temporary card but their name wasn’t on the roster for the PVC distribution. Some people were on the list, but their PVC couldn’t be found. For some, they missed the PVC distribution and haven’t been able to get theirs since because the INEC officers didn’t come back or inform them about where they could collect the card.

Segun lives in Abesan Estate. He says, “Most of us haven’t got our PVC. The distribution was very irregular. The INEC people brought PVCs for some polling units but didn’t bring for most of the others. A lot of people cannot find their PVCs and the INEC officers have long stopped coming. Now people are going to their ward and local government headquarters to check for their cards. I’ve been checking for mine but no results. It’s a total waste of time.”

Nike lives in Baruwa. She says, “My name was on the roster but they didn’t bring my card. I checked for it when they were around but it wasn’t there. Most people haven’t got the card in my community. Only people registered at a few polling booths have done so. They’ve now told us to go to St Andrew’s, the ward collation centre, to check if it’s been delivered there. Most people didn’t even hear this. They’ve quit thinking about the PVC. Besides, how do they expect people from over 30 polling units to go to that one place to hunt for their card? People should leave their work and go card hunting?”

It’s the same story for most residents in Dopemu, Egbeda and many other places. The people are pissed.

INEC has been struggling to get it right since the PVC exercise began in November. INEC workers were largely inefficient during the exercise. The logistics was sloppy. Many people waited for long hours at the booths and it came to nothing. At some booths, workers even asked people to pay them if they wanted a voter card processed for them. Overall, the exercise hasn’t been coming along.

The result is that many eligible people who want to vote haven’t got their PVC and might not get it before the elections begin next month. Consequently they’ll not be allowed to vote since INEC says only people with the permanent card will vote. But a lot of people who are affected will probably reject this.

Kareem is in Dopemu. He says, “They’ve failed to give most of us our PVC and they say we won’t be able to vote using the temporary card. It’s not possible. I’m a Nigerian and I must vote. INEC cannot stop me from voting when I’ve duly registered and I have the temporary card to prove. If INEC insists that only people with PVC can vote and they don’t give us our PVC, we’re going to resist them.”

“This issue is INEC’s fault. It is INEC’s duty to register voters and give them whatever ID they require. If they don’t do that, then they should let us use the old one. We want change. We want to vote.”

“Jega has failed. He can’t run a successful registration exercise nationwide and he wants to run elections. How will he do that? Jega has failed already. With the way things are going, they’re probably planning to postpone these elections.”

Kolapo Olapoju