November 9, 2014 -The Committee for the Protection of Peoples Mandate (CPPM) has called on the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend days earmarked for the ongoing distribution of Permanent Voter Card(PVC).
Three days were originally earmarked by INEC, November 7, 8, 9 while Lagos INEC added Monday, 10th of November due to late resumption of activities on Friday.
In a statement, Executive Director of the group, Mr. Nelson Ekujimi, said the three days exercise has been fraught with anomaly in Ogun State and Lagos and called on INEC to correct perceived errors to restore credibility to the 2015 elections.
“We are hereby calling for an immediate extension of the exercise as well as making it a continuous one whereby the electorates can go to the INEC offices at the various local governments to get their PVC, lay their complaints about the anomalies and get them resolved so that the credibility of elections in which the people are active participants come 2015 and beyond is assured”, the group said.
It called on INEC to render public apology to the people of Lagos and Ogun State for what it described as an embarrassing and scandalous conduct in the distribution of the PVC.
“We equally observed that in some polling units where people registered, they found their names on the pasted notice but the INEC officer couldn’t locate such persons PVC and so for now, they can’t collect their unavailable PVC. This has to be corrected.
“All these noted shortcomings of INEC in Lagos and Ogun States has become a recurring decimal in the conduct of any exercise by the electoral body and it has become a source of concern for patriotic Nigerians and groups who are desirous that Nigeria get it right so that the votes of the people can count at elections and our democracy is strengthened for the peace and progress of our society”, the group said.
