LAST week, there was unease among a vast section of the Anambra State populace when reports of the discovery of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in a forest in the state surfaced. The reports indicated that a yet-to-be-identified hunter found the bag containing the cards in Akamili community in Nnewi, the state capital, and subsequently took it to the premises of a radio station, Authority FM. Workers at the station said the PVCs were then taken to the palace of the Obi of Umudim community in Nnewi. Subsequently, the Anambra State Police Command began an investigation to unravel the circumstances behind the incident.
According to the Police Public Relations Officer, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, “The command has not received any such complaint from the concerned authority following the emergence of a video claiming that a hunter found some PVCs in a forest in Nnewi. Given the above, the state Commissioner of Police, Echeng Echeng, has ordered an investigation into the video to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and possibly arrest the suspects behind the act.” However, the Anambra State office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) refused to speak on the incident. Meanwhile, a video circulating online showed the community members sorting the PVCs, locating the owners, who are members of the community, and asking them to come and collect the cards so they could vote in last Saturday’s presidential election.
Although it is yet unclear who dumped the PVCs in question in Akamili forest, it seems quite reasonable to assume that it was not for a noble cause. Ideally, PVCs are printed by INEC and are supposed to be collected individually, not collectively, at INEC offices and distribution points. As critical instruments for effecting leadership change, PVCs are supposed to be in the possession of their owners. Now, were it not for the discovery of the PVCs by an apparently patriotic citizen, the owners would have been disenfranchised even before they had anything to say about voting or not. The incident should be investigated so that the true circumstances behind it can come to light.
If anything, the discovery of PVCs in a forest is strange because a lot of people who took time out to register with INEC had difficulty obtaining their PVCs. Ahead of the elections that began last Saturday, INEC offices thronged with people demanding access to their PVCs. It would thus be important to know how the PVCs in question ended up in a forest. Is this, for instance, the work of the so-called unknown gunmen who had invaded voter registration points ahead of the ongoing elections and shot at people, warning that they would allow no election in “Biafraland”? Just how could INEC be having problems giving some citizens their PVCs while some are dumped in the forest? This is really a bad and sad commentary on the preparations for the general elections in the country.
This development invites and requires deep investigation. It cannot be happy news that INEC which has the mandate to print PVCs and organise elections has chosen to be silent on such a critical development as the one under reference. If the incident was the result of a terrorist attack, INEC had a duty to have informed Nigerians about it long before the discovery. It is important for the government and INEC to get to the root of this crime, expose those behind it and thus be in a position to disabuse the minds of Nigerians about the suspicion that this was as the result of an insider job meant to deliberately disenfranchise some voters.
We expect the outcome of the detailed investigation to be made public, such that the entire development would be properly deconstructed, with steps taken to prevent a recurrence of such grim, criminal acts.
