Those who have been stealing or buying Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the February 2015 general elections are merely wasting their time, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said.

The stolen or bought cards cannot be used to vote, a senior INEC official emphasised. Mike Igini, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Edo State, said: “Those snatched cards would not be usable, except by those for whom the PVCs were expressly produced.”

Igini said that before his recent redeployment from Cross River State, a total of 4,658 PVCs were snatched from various wards in 9 LGAs of Akoko Edo, Egor, Esan West, Etsako West, Oredo, Ovia North-East, Owan-East, Uhunmwode out of which Orhionwon alone recorded 2,052.

He disclosed in an interview published this morning in Sunday Vanguard that some of those who stole the PVCs have been calling to offer to return them after being informed that the cards in their possession are useless.

Igini said that during meetings with stakeholders, he “made it very clear to all that the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in their possession were like used recharge cards. They are useless to them without the proper card-reader at the correct polling unit.”

According to the INEC chief, “In fact, PVC is only a sensitive or security material if it is in the possession of the true bearer, but useless in the absence of the owner whose biometrics each card bears. I’ve told stakeholders here to show the futility of being in possession of someone else’s PVC that I could even dump all the cards at Ramat Park or take them to the Ring Road, the centre of town, that except individuals go to pick their own cards, they will all be useless to you. Since then, a few unknown people have contacted me by phone, expressing willingness to return these cards that I consider borrowed for admiration. I say they borrowed them to admire them because it is biometrically tailored to work for only the owner. Holding it is like carrying someone’s debit card which without the pin number is just a piece of plastic.”

•Photo shows Edo REC Igini.