The Independent National Electoral Commission has said despite the advanced capabilities of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, Nigerians will not be allowed to vote without presenting their Permanent voter cards under the current electoral law.

The clarification followed recent discussions arising from post-2023 general election review meetings, where stakeholders proposed that voters should be allowed to use other forms of identification on election day, citing the growing efficiency of BVAS in authenticating voter identity.

Speaking to our correspondent on Saturday, the Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Rotimi Oyekanmi, said the commission was aware of the proposals but remained bound by the legal requirements of the Electoral Act.

“INEC is not mulling the idea of voting without the Permanent voter cards. The idea emanated as a recommendation from our post-2023 review meetings with stakeholders, where it was suggested that with the advent of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System, which contains details of registered voters per polling unit, Nigerians should be able to vote with any ID including the PVC on Election Day,” Oyekanmi said.

He noted that while BVAS had significantly improved the voter accreditation process by verifying identities through facial and fingerprint recognition, its existence didn’t override statutory provisions.

“The commission is not opposed to this idea but some aspects of the law, like Section 47 of the Electoral Act 2022 which makes it mandatory for a voter to present a voter card at the polling unit, would need an amendment,” he added.

Currently, the law stipulates that no person shall be allowed to vote at a polling unit unless they present their PVC and are verified by the technological devices provided by INEC.

This legal requirement has remained a source of concern as nearly six million PVCs remain uncollected across the country.

As of August 24 this year, data from INEC website and its official, 5,965,451 voter cards were yet to be picked up by their owners.

In Abia State, 171,626 PVCs remain uncollected, while Adamawa has 225,916. Akwa Ibom accounts for 158,795, and Anambra, comparatively lower, has 31,690. In Bauchi, there are 37,169 uncollected cards, with Bayelsa reporting 39,249. Benue State records a significant backlog of 170,586, among the highest nationwide.

Borno has 66,072 uncollected PVCs, while Cross River reports 93,667. In Delta, 232,183 cards are yet to be picked up, with Ebonyi at 45,851. Edo State accounts for 101,617, while Ekiti and Enugu report 29,595 and 117,404, respectively.

Gombe has 40,840 uncollected cards. In Imo, the figure stands at 101,003. Jigawa with 52,933, Kaduna reports 170,735, while Kano, one of the most populous states, has 327,177 unclaimed cards. Katsina and Kebbi record 55,274 and 51,870, respectively.

In Kogi, 99,494 PVCs remain uncollected, while Kwara has 158,653. Lagos tops the chart with 845,225 unclaimed PVCs. Nasarawa has 51,495, Niger 64,616, and Ogun 410,281. Ondo follows with 295,856, while Osun and Oyo report 360,794 and 515,254, respectively.

Plateau has 101,995 uncollected cards, Rivers 251,418, Sokoto 74,091, and Taraba 197,049. Yobe and Zamfara report 47,295 and 76,815, respectively. The Federal Capital Territory rounds off the figures with 93,868 uncollected PVCs.

To address both voter apathy and logistical gaps, INEC resumed the Continuous Voter Registration exercise last month.

The online phase began on August 18, while physical registration commenced on August 25.

The CVR is aimed at registering new voters and allowing those with uncollected PVCs from previous exercises to retrieve them ahead of future elections. (Sunday PUNCH)