The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has clarified that Nigerians who already have their Permanent Voter Cards do not need to register again as the cards have not expired and remained valid for future elections.
The electoral umpire was responding to claims by a former governor of Lagos State and presidential aspirant of the All Progressives Congress in the 2023 elections, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu that the PVCs might have expired.
Tinubu had in a trending video urged his supporters to go and take part in the ongoing ‘new registration’ because “the PVCs you have had expired”.
But the Chief Technical Advisor to the Chairman of INEC, Prof Bolade Eyinla, said that the PVCs issued in recent years remained valid for all elections being conducted by the INEC.
He told Nigerians not to attempt to register afresh if they already have a PVC.
“This information is not correct. The PVC issued to all previously registered voters remains valid. This kind of statement will certainly push eligible voters to register more than once, thereby creating the problem of double and multiple registrations”, Ayinla said.
The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said Nigerians who already have their PVCs did not need to register again.
“Double registrations is an offence under our laws. Eligible Nigerians are entitled to register only once. Once a name appears on the National Register of Voters, it stays there permanently.
“One of the very few instances where a name could be removed from the register is if there’s a strong and verifiable proof that the person bearing the name has died”, Oyekanmi said.
