By Justina Auta
An NGO, Focusing on Women and Girls Initiative for Positive Change (FOWGI), has embarked on sensitisation to encourage residents to collect their permanent voter cards (PVCs), ahead of the forthcoming general elections.
The Executive Director of FOWGI, Mrs. Rifkatu Ademola, in an interview on Tuesday, said the exercise was necessitated by poor turnout of residents for PVC collection, despite extension of date by the Federal Government.
Ademola, said that the sensitisation in markets, business premises and residential areas was tagged, “Collect your PVCs, make we build Nigeria together.”
“We discovered that the turnout for collection of PVCs was really low and not encouraging, especially the youth, despite INEC’s extension to February 5.
“We started with digital sensitization, but I guess it wasn’t doing so much and so we decided to go and encourage them to get their PVCs and vote.
“We had a strong message and that was to ensure that Nigerians get their PVCs, come out and vote.
“There won’t be any miracle without your votes; be the change you want to see,” she said.
Ademola further stated that the organisation also used the opportunity to canvass for more support for the women vying for various political positions in the forthcoming elections.
“We also wanted to hear from the masses what they think about voting women, because our other reason for the engagement was to encourage women political participation by voting them,” she said.
According to her, the poor turnout of people to collect their PVCs was due to transfer problems, inadequate information and non-availability of the cards.
“Many of the people we interacted with claimed to have left their businesses for so many days and yet, couldn’t access their PVCs.
“Some who registered in different locations and are living in Abuja didn’t even know that it was possible to transfer their voter cards.
“Many others believe that the electoral processes cannot be trusted and as such, they would rather not vote.
“We want to plead with INEC to find a way to make this registration a continuous process, because every single day, people are turning 18.
“If they make it continuous, the masses can register conveniently and get their PVCs on time. It shouldn’t be an every election season only,” she said.
Mr. Andrew Ndubisi, a businessman, appealed to government to do something about the issue of transfer, which had affected collection for most electorate.
He also reiterated his support for the women vying for various political positions.
“So many people have not received their PVCs because of the transfer.
“What have we gained from all the men who have been ruling us? So let women also try.
“There are some countries that have had women at the helm of affairs and they are doing very well. Nigeria should also do that.
“I will support women with vision and credibility, and who are bold enough to fight their rights, make sacrifices and impact positively on our country,” he said.
Mrs. Joy Sunday, a trader, however, said that she might not be able to participate in the forthcoming elections due to her inability to transfer her PVC to the FCT.
