Thousands of angry women on Friday barricaded the Lagos office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) located at Birrel Street, Sabo Yaba, over the non-issuance of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).
The women, all dressed in black to show their disgust over what they described as the ineptitude of INEC, brandished posters with different inscriptions such as “Give Nigerian women opportunity to vote”, “Voting is our inalienable right”, and “Jega must go”.
The president of Women For Truth, Chief (Mrs.) Kate Onyechere, who coordinated the protest, declared that Nigerian women are not happy with the way INEC is toying with the fate of the country.
According to her, the report that INEC is giving about the number of Nigerians who have collected their PVCs cannot be true as most women in the country have not got theirs.
She said that it is in order to prove INEC wrong that they had to come to the head office of the electoral body in Lagos to demonstrate their displeasure.
Chief (Mrs.) Onyechere disclosed that Women For Truth has received calls from different parts of the country that millions of Nigerian women are yet to get their PVCs. She noted that most Nigerians, especially women, would have been disenfranchised if the elections had not been shifted from February 14 and 28 to March 28 and April 11.
Speaking while receiving the protesters, Lagos INEC Head of Department, Voters Education, Mrs. Ijeoma Igbokwe, thanked the women for making the demonstration peaceful.
She said that the electoral body would not leave any stone unturned to ensure that every eligible voter participates in the forthcoming elections.
Mrs. Igbokwe assured that INEC is coming out with new ways that would make PVC collection less cumbersome for Nigerians
She said that every eligible voter would get his or her PVC before the new election dates and appealed to the women to help to sensitise the people to go and collect their PVCs instead of sitting at home to conclude that the cards are not available.
•Photo shows the protesting women at Lagos INEC office.
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