The Nigerian presidential election, scheduled for February 25, is less than 20 days away, yet only roughly 79% of registered voters have their permanent voters card (PVC), which is required by law to vote.
As a result of the difficulty encountered by intended voters in obtaining their PVC, many are looking for alternatives that will allow them to fulfill their civic duty. These alternatives frequently consist of claims that are not supported by the law and are thus recognized as false information.
One such claim is that voters can print their own PVC, rather than obtaining the card issued by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
What is the position of the Law?
To understand the legal position, it is necessary to dissect these claims:
Claim by user one:
“The Electoral Act empowers INEC to print cards but it does not criminalise individuals printing their cards…Nobody will arrest you for printing your card”.
The user also claims that INEC prevented people from obtaining their PVCs.
Claim by user two:
“There’s no mechanism to scan the PVC, it’s for identification only. Your details are already in the BVAS database.”
It is criminal for individuals to print their cards?
According to the 2022 Electoral Act, INEC has the sole authority to print or issue voter cards to individuals and as such, no other entity, individual, or group is authorized by law to produce or issue voter cards.
Section 16(1) of the Act reads, “The Commission shall design, cause to be printed and control the issuance of voters’ cards to voters whose names appear in the register.”
Subsection (4) further explains the Commission’s power to replace cards when necessary,
“The Commission may, whenever it considers it necessary, replace all or any voters’ cards for the time being held by voters.”
Therefore, the Commission not only has the power to issue cards but to also replace them whenever a fault or glitch occurs. This authority does not rest with individuals, but solely with the Commission; any card not issued by the Commission is automatically regarded as illegal.
Section 117(D), on the other hand, imposes a penalty for improper use of the card, which also applies to printing by an unauthorised entity.
According to the Act, anyone who prints Voter’s cards without authorization from the government faces a fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.
The Act reads, “any person who buys, sells, procures or deals, with a voters card otherwise than as provided in this Act, commits an offence and is liable on conviction to a maximum fine of N1,000,000 or imprisonment for a term of 12 months or both.”
In 2015, INEC reaffirmed the law’s position by threatening jail-term for anyone found in possession of forged and unauthorised PVCs. This news article from 2017 describes the arrest of two men who were discovered creating and issuing counterfeit PVC.
Is the PVC required for voting and identification?
The PVC is required on election day as a valid means of identification that enables citizens to exercise their civic right to vote in the forthcoming general elections. The card is to be taken to the polling unit for identification.
The 2022 Electoral Act, Section 47(1) establishes that “a person intending to vote in an election shall present himself with his voter’s card to a Presiding officer for accreditation at the polling unit, in the constituency in which his name is registered.”
As a result, accreditation is impossible without the PVC.
Mahmood Yakubu, the INEC chairman, recently stated that the commission’s stance of ‘no PVC, no voting’ would be maintained.
“Nothing has changed. It is a legal requirement, and doing it will be a violation of the law. I appeal to Nigerians to ignore any suggestion to the contrary,” he said.
“The law is clear and the INEC Chairman has given the final verdict that “no PVC, no vote “.
There is no mechanism to scan the PVC?
To bequeath transparency and by extension, credibility to the crucial presidential election, the electoral umpire introduced the Bimodal Voter Registration System (BVAS).
The BVAS is a technological device used to identify and accredit voters’ fingerprints and facial recognition before voting.
It works in three ways:
- Scanning the voter’s fingerprints/ facial recognition,
- Scanning the barcode/QR code on the PVC/Voter’s register or
- Entering the last six digits of the Voter Identity Number (VIN) and the last name of the voter by the Assistant Presiding Officer (APO 1).
Two of the three accreditation methods require the existence of a physical PVC, the PVC, therefore, serves a purpose other than identification; it is also scanned by the BVAS for accreditation of voters.
Is voter data already on the BVAS database?
Yes, voter data are on the BVAS database. This is because the BVAS is multifunctional in nature;
It works as Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) during voter registration, as a Voter Accreditation Device on election day, and as the INEC Results Viewing Device (IReV Device) for election results upload on election day.
This multifunctionality enables verification through facial and fingerprint recognition, as well as the QR/barcode scanner.