A collection of civil society organizations expressed their alarm on Friday, just 49 days before the general elections in 2023, regarding instances of lost permanent voter cards, or PVCs, and the difficulty in locating them.
President Muhammadu Buhari must be ready to hold a free and fair election, according to the CSOs who are concerned.
Maximilian Tashilani, the focal point of the Coalition of Nigerian Youth Groups, Okpanachi Jacob, convener of the Coalition of Civil Society for Good Governance, and Yusuf Ibrahim, chairman of Arewa Transformational Leaders, presented the organizations’ positions during a news conference.
They expressed concern about the Independent National Electoral Commission’s voter education efforts as well, saying that it needed to be addressed.
The judiciary was cautioned by the CSOs not to award court orders, injunctions, and judgments hastily.
According to Tashilani, “President Muhammadu Buhari is not only prepared to make sure that the legacy of a free and fair election is left behind, but he is also positioned to make sure that the institutions in charge of delivering credible elections are truly autonomous.
“The challenges voters face when obtaining their PVCs are intolerable. In addition to the difficulties in finding a single PVC, there have also been complaints of PVCs going missing,” he stated.
