During the elections in 2023, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has issued a warning instructing minors not to approach polling stations.
Goldennewsng reports that Festus Okoye, INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, issued the warning on Monday, January 2, during an interview on Channels Television. He stated that underage voters and their parents would be arrested and charged with aiding and abetting such a scheme.
Okoye stated:
“On election day, we have made it very clear that any person who appears to be underage should not approach any of our polling units.
“If the person does appear, he or she would be arrested along with their parents for assisting in such a venture,” the statement reads.
In addition, Okoye ridiculed those who were involved in the purchase of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and the extraction of Voter Identification Numbers (VIN).
In addition,
“Those who are stealing registered voters’ Voter Identification Numbers (VINs) are wasting their time and effort.”
“When we displayed the voter registers for claims and objections, why are they harvesting and buying off VINs when those VINs were published in our local government areas and in our registration areas? There are those VINs.
“We have made it very clear that this Commission will use the BVAS for voter identification and authentication, and the data of every registered voter in Nigeria per polling unit is housed in the BvAS, not the PVCs,” the Commission stated.
“The main thing the Managing Official will do on Final voting day is to take a gander at the last six digits of your PVC and use it to draw out your VIN to hit up your information from the BVAS.
“Those who purchase PVCs and harvest VINs can only oppress voters.
“On Election Day, they can only prevent the voter from going to the polling unit, but I can assure you that carrying the PVC of another person to give another person for voting is next to impossible.”