Five (5) Reasons Why the Proposed Voting Without PVC Might Impact Positively on Elections in Nigeria

INTRO: One of the criticisms I held against the 2023 general election in Nigeria was the flouting of INEC's directives on no Permanent Voter's Card (PVC), no voting. I remember vividly how the INEC Chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu was on the national TV professing no PVC, no voting, while the voters  were in the fields having a field day, voting without PVCs, but just with their Voter Identification Number (VIN). I would later realise that they were able to do it because the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) needs just the VIN and the biometric confirmations to authenticate a Voter, and this means that voting without PVC is not much of electoral infraction except from legal perspectives as the electoral law does not recognise it. 

Section 47 (1) of the Electoral Act 2022 is quite instructive stating that;

“A person attending 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."

The one million dollar question here however is why shouldn't the electoral law recognise it? There is absolutely, no reason. Now, another question is, why should the electoral law recognise it? The reasons abound as hereunder discussed, based on the news report that INEC moves to legalise voting without PVC in the elections in Nigeria. 

The reasons why the proposed voting without PVC might impact positively on elections in Nigeria are:

1. It will be a catch-all for all the registered voters in Nigeria: Legalising voting without PVC for the duly registered voters will widen the eligibility-base of Nigerian voters in the elections. The PVC requirement of voting in elections in Nigeria disenfranchises many Nigerians who ordinarily should be eligible to vote. Many issues could make an eligible voter to be without his or her PVC. It could be loss of PVC, failed collection of PVC, displacements due to natural disasters, or conflicts. There is also the possibility of damage or loss or defacing of the card. The issue of displacements is worthy of little attention because of the litany of crises in Nigeria ranging from the Boko Haram in the North-East, bandits in the North-West,  and unknown gunmen in the South-East. For instance the Round 49 which is the latest of the Displacements Tracking Matrix (DTM) of the International Organisation for Migration (IOM) covering October and November 2024  reported that a sum of 2,252,348 IDPs were identified in 465,935 households in the six states of the North-East: Adamawa, Borno, Yobe, Gombe, Bauchi, and Taraba. Incessant flooding of the lowlands due to climate change is also in perspective. For instance, over 640, 000 persons have been displaced from their homes in Nigeria in in 2024 due to flood disasters. These issues make many Nigerians to be out of their places of habitation, and most probably, without their PVC. Legalising voting without PVC will capture these populations in the eligibility net of Nigerians in elections in Nigeria.  This will be healthy for elections and democracy  in Nigeria, because in democracy, the more the voters, the merrier.  This is a way of saying that the more the voters in an election, the more the outcome reflects the wishes of the people. 

2. It will reduce the cost of elections: This is a case for efficiency in service. Cost of elections in Nigeria  is gargantuan, and has been severally criticised by political pundits. In fact, the cost of elections in Nigeria was said to have risen from 1.5 billion Naira to 305 billion Naira in 24 years, starting from 1999 when the cost of the election was below 2 billion Naira through 42 billion in 2011, 108 billion in 2015, 242 billion in 2019, and then the enormous 305 billion of the 2023 general election justified by INEC to be inter alia due to PVC printing, and BVAS procurement.  In this manner, Nigeria was adjudged as the country with the most expensive elections in Africa. Legalising voting without PVC will remove the financial burden which PVC processing and distribution weighs on the election budgets in Nigeria. 

3. It will promote the integrity of elections in Nigeria: A number of electoral frauds are committed in Nigeria's elections with the PVC factor. Reports of PVC buying and in some instances, hoarding for electoral gains abound.  In No. 7 of this listicle discussing the reasons for electoral malpractices in Nigeria, I relayed my observation about how ignorant voters surrendered their PVCs to politicians for whatever reasons but definitely for electoral fraud. In February, 2023 when the general election was only days away, a video surfaced online where several hundreds of thousands of PVCs were reported to have been found in the Bush in Anambra by hunters who then took it to Authority F.M. Nnewi, Anambra State for alerting the people. Many questions still remain to be answered about the issue. In the days running up to the general election, the civil societies in the South-East when dissatisfied with the failed PVC collection attempts by many persons in the South-East started accusing INEC of inefficiency. Many people in the region simply believed that INEC was into mischief at the best, or partiality at the worst. The bottom line is that right from time, the PVC printing and distribution side of the elections in Nigeria has been neck deep in mess. Dealing with the mess by taking it off the electoral process holds great advantages to the integrity and by extension, the credibility of elections in Nigeria. 

4. Voting without PVC will promote flexibility in the electoral process: The continued feature of PVC in the Nigerian electoral process is redundant and rigid. This is evident with the fact that BVAS is capable of authenticating voters without the card. To be sure, PVC technology was created for the card reader technology, and when INEC opted for BVAS and jettisoned card readers, PVCs became useless, except for the fact that it features the VIN, of which can be accessed online. The continued use of PVCs is justifiable however by the fact of making VINs handy but it is not justifiable to cast its use in stone. In the instance that the move to legalising voting without PVCs succeeds, it will enthrone flexibility in the Nigeria's elections, and thus, promote the credibility of the elections. 

5. It will reduce voter apathy: Many things could be a factor of voter apathy in Nigeria as discussed here, but another major factor is the cumbersome processes involved in the elections spanning registration, PVC collection, accreditation, and voting. Many Nigerians could find these processes quite long and energy sapping, and as such, could simply wish Nigeria well, and give up on voting.  Simplifying the electoral process by legalising voting without PVC will attract many apathetic Nigerian voters to go to vote as the processes grow less cumbersome.