A man sentenced to a year in prison after stealing 101 PVCs

Nasiru Idris was sentenced to one year in prison by a Magistrate Court in Sokoto after being found in possession of 101 Permanent Voter Cards PVCs.

The offense violates Sections 117 and 145 of the Electoral Act of 2002.

Barr. Festus Okoye, National Commissioner in charge of the Information and Voter Education Committee at the Independent National Electoral Commission INEC, announced this in a statement issued Sunday in Abuja.

INEC also stated that it has begun prosecution of another man who was found in possession of 367 PVCs in Kano State.

According to him, the Commission met over the weekend and deliberated on a number of issues, including the date and procedure for collecting PVCs, as well as the prosecution of individuals arrested for illegally possessing PVCs.

PVC Collection Update

Okoye stated that the Commission is determined to make the collection of PVCs as seamless as possible following the end of the statutory period for the display of the register of voters for claims and objections.

Okoye stated that a Standard Operating Procedure SOP has been developed and that this will be one of the issues discussed and finalized at a retreat held in Lagos from November 28th to December 2nd, 2022, involving all Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs from the 36 states of the Federation and the Federal Capital Territory FCT).

“At the conclusion of the retreat, the Commission will announce the dates as well as the detailed procedure for the nationwide collection of PVCs.”

“The Commission appreciates Nigerians’ patience and understanding, particularly those who registered as voters or applied for transfer/replacement of their cards between January and July 2022.” “In addition to making the cards available for collection, the Commission is working to ensure that the process runs smoothly,” he said.

Offender Prosecution

Okoye recently revealed that the Nigeria Police had arrested some individuals found to be in illegal possession of voter’s cards in some States of the Federation.

“In one case, the Police completed its investigation and turned over the case file to the Commission, resulting in the successful prosecution of one Nasiru Idris at a Magistrate Court in Sokoto who was found in possession of 101 PVCs in violation of Sections 117 and 145 of the Electoral Act 2002.” “He was sentenced to one year in prison,” he said.

Similarly, police in Kano State arrested a man after discovering 367 PVCs in his possession.

According to Okoye, the suspect has been charged in court and is being prosecuted by the Commission.

“The Commission wishes to reiterate that it will continue to pursue and diligently prosecute all violators of the Electoral Act,” he said.