Dayo Joshua, a Lagos resident, has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), of denying him his Permanent Voter Card (PVC).

Speaking with FIJ on Wednesday, Joshua said his numerous visits to his Eti-Osa Local Government Area, Igbo-Efon, Lagos, for his PVC had been fruitless.  

“I have been going to Eti-Osa LGA to request my PVC since the electoral commission announced it was ready for collection, and I have been there twice,” Joshua told FIJ.

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“When the commission said that the cards could only be picked up at the ward, I visited my ward in Ilado, Eti-Osa, twice but I couldn’t get it. The officials told me my card was nowhere to be found.”

The entrepreneur stated that the best effort the official made when he went to his LGA on Tuesday was a promise to escalate the matter.

“Yesterday, I was at the centre and the official told me they couldn’t find my card. He only told me he would escalate it. All I saw him do to escalate it was type on a phone,” said Joshua.

“Even when I requested evidence, he couldn’t provide any. However, other people are getting their cards from the same Eti-Osa LGA.”

The 46-year-old worried that he might not vote in the elections set to hold in a few weeks if his card was not found.

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“If the deadline set by INEC elapses and I don’t get it, it means INEC has indeed disenfranchised willing voters by their inefficiency or deliberate acts of picking and choosing who will vote as a way of rigging the elections,” Joshua said.

“I was also at the centre today but it was still the same story.

“I am in this dilemma because I misplaced the initial PVC I had.”

In the last few weeks, several Nigerians have consistently called out INEC for its inability to provide the cards of registered voters.

On January 11 and 14, FIJ visited two PVC collection centres in Lagos and reports from both places suggest that if the commission does not put measures in place to ensure seamless PVC collection, they will disenfranchise more Nigerians than expected.