The founder of Anap Foundation, Atedo Peterside, has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to allow registered voters without permanent voter cards (PVCs) to cast their ballots.

Peterside spoke on Monday during an interview on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily, arguing that barring a registered voter from casting their ballot is flawed.

“This is also the part I am talking about: If somebody has registered and in the past he didn’t have his voters’ card, but he has a passport, or he has the name, I think he should be allowed to vote,” he said on the breakfast show.

“Because if he didn’t collect his PVC, that should not disqualify him. I believe this time, slowly, INEC is agreeing that this whole idea of having people disenfranchised because they couldn’t collect a PVC—which you control who collects—is failing.

“If somebody has registered, for goodness sake, the responsibility for getting his PVC to him should be INEC’s,” he said.

“Allow him to download his PVC and go and vote. Otherwise, the PVC is being used as an instrument to disenfranchise selected voters, and it happens massively across the country, and it must stop,” Peterside added.

The founder of Stanbic IBTC also asked the electoral umpire to create an alternative for people to download their PVCs.

“So I believe this time you can get your PVC, download it yourself, but we have to make sure these things happen,” Peterside said.

The entrepreneur, whose non-partisan civic initiative, GoNigeria, is driving a nationwide voter education, said the platform is to ensure that mostly younger Nigerians are encouraged to take part in the electoral process.

He commended INEC for extending the voter registration deadline ahead of the 2027 general elections.

“So let’s applaud them for doing something positive, because some of us feared that INEC was in a hurry to impose a deadline, lock out all these people, and possibly reduce the number of registered voters by making sure that many of the younger ones are disenfranchised,” Peterside said.

“…I think many of these deadlines [from INEC] are much too early. So I’m happy that in their own wisdom they’ve come out. So let’s applaud them.

“So, that is on record that sometimes we applaud INEC. It’s a very good thing, because I don’t see why—I mean, the 10th of July to me was too restrictive; it was never feasible—so adding two more weeks is something positive,” he added. (Channels TV)

Update news