BY: MOHAMMAD LAWAL MAIKUDI
Underage voters have been warned to stay away from polling units during the 2023Â general election or risk arrest and prosecution, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced, Monday
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, sounded the warning while featuring on a Television programme, âSunrise Dailyâ.
: âWe have made it very clear that any visibly underage person should not approach any of our polling units on election day.”
The Commission further flayed those involved in the buying of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) and harvesting of Voter Identification Numbers (VIN).saying âtgose who are harvesting Voter Identification Numbers (VINs) of registered voters are doing that in futility.
âWhy are they harvesting and buying off VINs when those VINs were published in our local government areas and in our registration areas when we displayed the voter registers for claims and objections? Those VINs are there.
âWe have made it very clear that this Commission will deploy the BVAS for votersâ identification and authentication and the data of every registered voter in Nigeria per polling unit is domiciled in the BvAS and not in the PVCs.
âThe only thing the Presiding Officer will do on Election Day is to look at the last six digits of your PVC and use it to bring out your VIN for the purpose of calling up your data from the BVAS.
âThose buying PVCs and harvesting VINs can only engage in voter oppression.
âThey can only prevent the voter from going to the polling unit on Election Day but in terms of carrying the PVC of someone else to give another person for voting, I can assure you that it is next to impossibleâ.
