Fashola seeks extension of PVC distribution

The Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola (SAN), on Monday received members of The Nucleus Group on a peaceful protest march to the Governor’s Office, Alausa over the shoddy handling of the distribution of Permanent Voters’ Cards in the state.

Fashola called on the Independent National Electoral Commission to extend the exercise.

The governor, who addressed the protesters at the Banquet Hall of the Lagos House, Ikeja, noted that going by the calculation of three days that was earlier earmarked for the exercise, 24 hours would have been available to the residents of the state to participate in the exercise.

He said findings showed on Friday, when the exercise was supposed to kick off, that INEC officials were nowhere to be found in the 11 local government areas where it was supposed to be held, thus wasting the first eight hours despite the work free day declared by the state government.

He added that on the second day, which was Saturday, INEC officials did not surface until around 2pm in majority of the collection centres, though the INEC later announced an extension of the exercise for that day by an hour.

He explained that even on MOnday, which is the fourth day, INEC officials were nowhere to be found in many areas and that the assurance of INEC that it would not disenfranchise anyone in the state is not adequate enough because the umpire has said that in the past without any noticeable improvement.

Fashola maintained that from the above scenario, it is very obvious that out of the projected 24 hours in three days, a densely populated state like Lagos State has been shortchanged by above 12 hours, which may lead to disenfranchisement of many eligible voters.

He added that if what is fair is fair, it should not be difficult for INEC to extend the exercise, wondering why INEC even decided to allot three days for the exercise in Lagos with over six million registered voters, when it alloted the same three days to states that have about two million voters.

The governor insisted that INEC has no excuse for not getting the exercise right and that the only option available to the agency is to get it right and do the needful.

He said it always has the grace of four years to prepare for the exercise, wondering what fate would have befallen Nigerians if INEC was the agency responsible for managing the aviation industry with thousands of flights to handle daily.

He charged the people not give up or let their disappointment with the present situation overwhelm their desire for good governance, which must be more resilient.

He said just as he will not, everyone should also work on the conviction that they will not give up until the situation changes for the better.

He said: “From now on, Nigerians must stop accepting poor quality service from our agencies or bodies. If you cannot do it satisfactorily, get out of the place. We have been managing things for too long.”

Fashola said the state government is demanding an extension so that the registered residents can collect their Permanent Voter Cards and ensure that the cards do not get into wrong hands.

He said whenever INEC commences the registration of voters, especially for those who had not turned 18 when the last registration exercise was conducted, they should go ahead and register so that they would be able to vote.

The governor said even for those who might have registered before but could not trace their names on the present register, they should still go ahead and re-register their names whenever a registration exercise is conducted.

Reacting to the defence from INEC about the shortfall in the number of registered voters it announced earlier and the figure it is giving out now, the governor said the questions Nigerians should pose to INEC is: why did it come out with a figure it was not sure of initially?

He stated that the State Government believes that the problems being encountered now with the PVC distribution is from the top hierarchy of INEC and that those working in Lagos State have only been operating with what they have been given.

He also used the occasion to appeal to citizens and employers to apply some flexibility and patriotism in terms of their workers by allowing them to close from work early, adding that whatever happens this week in terms of collection of the PVC would be defining for the nation’s democratic experience.

He urged all residents of the state to maintain the peace as they go about their normal businesses, asking everyone to wait and see what the next pronouncement of INEC would be by Tuesday on the PVC distribution exercise.

Speaking earlier, the leader of The Nucleus Group, Prince Ademola Odusanya, said the group, which had earlier protested to the INEC office, is asking for an extension of the days of the distribution exercise and the extension of the closing time from4pm to 6pm to cater for workers.

Odusanya added that the group also wants INEC to increase the number of its trained personnel deployed to conduct the exercise, while also ensuring that it addresses the issue of mix ups that have occurred with the PVC cards in some local government areas.

He said the members of the group have gone round local governments like Ikorodu, Kosofe, Ikeja and Agege and what it observed is that the performance of INEC is nothing to write home about.