The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Monday warned underage voters to stay away from polling units, or risk arrest.
It also cautioned that parents of the ineligible voters would also be arrested alongside their children for aiding and abetting electoral fraud.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, gave the warning while featuring on a Channels Television breakfast programme: “Sunrise Daily”.
He said: “We have made it very clear that any visibly underage person should not approach any of our polling units on Election Day. If the person does appear, he or she would be arrested alongside their parents for aiding and abetting such a venture.”
The commission flayed those involved in the buying of the Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and harvesting of Voter Identification Numbers (VIN).
The INEC national commissioner noted that such an act would oppress voters and prevent them from exercising their rights on Election Day.
He added that the data of every registered voter is domiciled in the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System and not in the PVCs.
“Those who are harvesting Voter Identification Numbers of registered voters are doing that in futility. Why 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 voters’ registers for claims and objections? Those VINs are there.
We have made it very clear that this commission will deploy the BVAS for voters’ identification and authentication. The data of every registered voter in Nigeria per polling unit is domiciled in the BVAS and not in the PVCs. The 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.
Those buying PVCs and harvesting VINs can only engage in voter oppression. They 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 impossible.
The INEC national commissioner also said the commission would publish on January 16 the official register of voters that would be used for the 2023 general election.
“Our voters’ register is robust and we believe that it is very credible. As of today, we have 93.5 million registered voters in the register. On January 16, 2023, the commission will publish the official register of voters that will be used for the 2023 general election.”
