Fashola Kicks As INEC Excludes 9 LGs From PVCs Collection

Posted by African Examiner Latest Headlines, News, News From The State, Politics Friday, November 7th, 2014

Lagos State Governor, Mr. Babaunde Fashola has lamented the exclusion of nine Local Governments in Lagos from collecting their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

The distribution of 4.8 million PVCs begins in Lagos today and will end on Sunday, with only 11 LGs expected to get their PVCs.

INEC says nine LGs have been excluded from the exercise and that they will collect theirs between November 28 and 30.

The affected nine LGs are Alimosho, Amuwo Odofin, Epe, Apapa, Badagry, Oshodi-Isolo, Surulere, Eti-Osa and Shomolu. PVCs will however be distributed in 11 LGs, such as Agege, Ajeromi Ifelodun, Ifako Ijaiye, Ikeja, Mushin, Lagos Island, Lagos Mainland, Ikorodu, Ibeju-Lekki, Kosofe and Ojo.

In a state-wide broadcast this morning in Lagos, Fashola said he was disappointed that by omission or commission, INEC had decided to make this a painful experience for Lagosians by announcing that it would only issue PVCs in 11 LGs and exclude nine others.

“INEC now says that it will conduct the exercise on the 28th, 29th, and 30th of November, 2014. I can only imagine the level of disappointment that you must all feel, having waited anxiously for this exercise and in spite of the fact that we had declared a work free day.

“I am deeply disappointed at this display of lack of planning that speaks volumes of the contempt and disregard of this national agency for the rights of citizens. I wish to recall that it was INEC that first announced that this exercise was planned for August, and later shifted to September, and later to today and yet they did not get it right.

“If this is a foretaste of what we should expect in the general elections, for me it is a bad start. It tastes awful. INEC has not answered the question I posed about the delisting of over 1,400,000 voters from the Register it compiled in 2011 in spite of assurances it gave Nigerians, and billions of naira it expended for the purpose,” he stated.

The governor said as far as this further messy conduct was concerned, INEC’s lame excuse was that nine contractors disappointed it, asking, “who are the contractors? Are they faceless?

I think Nigerians deserve to know who they are. The information at my disposal is that all the cards are in Lagos and INEC must explain why it had decided not to distribute all of them.

“Nevertheless, I want to urge all of you who registered in the 11 Local Governments to go and collect your Permanent Voters’ Card to prevent yourselves from being disenfranchised. Our love for democracy and development that it had brought to our State and our lives must be bigger and stronger than our disappointment at a national agency that has let itself down.”

Fashola added that for those who registered in the suspended nine LGs should observe the work free day and stay at home.

“My Local Government in Surulere, that of the Deputy Governor in Alimosho and the Speaker in Epe are among those affected by the suspension. I urge you to remain peaceful, but determined to be vigilant and assured, that nobody will take your rights away, because our Government will stand up for you,” he said.