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Tag: PVC

  • How Alaba Int’l Market was shut down for PVC registration [VIDEO]

    Traders from the popular Alaba International Market, Ojo, have shut down their shops and besieged various registration centres in the area to obtain their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).

     

    According to the traders, it was a directive given to them by the market association on Wednesday.

     

    It was learnt that traders might not be allowed to open for business until they have obtained their voter’s cards.

    APC

     

    INEC Records Huge Turnout For Voter Registration In Anambra
    A mammoth crowd of voters besieged the headquarters of Ojo Local Government on Olojo Drive throughout the better part of yesterday.

     

    A trader, Titus Ogochukwu, said the traders were not bothered about closing their stalls to register for the PVCs.

     

    He said, “The leaders of Alaba market told us that we must get our PVC. The issue was debated and we all agreed to set aside a day for the exercise. During the meeting, we agreed that it will be better on a Thursday, being the day for the weekly environmental sanitation exercise in the market.

     

    “We complied, but we regret the inconvenience it caused our customers some of them came from within and outside the state. Most of the hotels in Ojo are fully booked by customers who came from outside the state. They are waiting for us to open the market for business on Friday.”

     

    Another trader, James Oladimeji, said “We have discovered that our votes can count, so we want to join hands to change the system. It is not a question of Igbo, Yoruba or Hausa, what is happening affects every tribe and we need the best candidate.”

     

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports that the leadership of traders in Lagos and the South East had ordered their members to obtain Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) in readiness to vote for the candidate of the Labour Party (LP), Mr. Peter Obi, in the 2023 general election.

     

    In a video that went viral, an announcer, was seeing going round the Alaba Int’l Market, Lagos, and other markets in the South East zone, asking the traders to go an obtain their PVCs.

     

    The announcer maintained that there would be a day the market would be locked down to enable the traders go and obtain their PVC, maintaining that showing their PVCs upon demand by the market leadership would be a condition precedent for doing business in the markets henceforth. A trader, Mr Daniel Sampson, who spoke with our correspondent said: “Peter Obi is our member.

     

    He was a trader before he became Anambra State governor. He is still a trader. He knows our problems, particularly as it concerns import and export trade. “So, we will give him maximum cooperation in the election. Besides, he has enormous capacity and knowledge on how to reposition Nigeria. He is our choice and the choice of most Nigerians in this project.

     

  • CVR: No eligible registrants will be left out – Yakubu

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reassured Nigerians that no eligible registrant would be left out in the Permanent Voters Card registration exercise.

    INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Thursday in Abuja during the commission’s meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

    Newsmen reports that the meeting was to review the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) and the submission of the list of candidates by political parties.

    Yakubu recalled that in 2021, the commission resumed the current nationwide CVR exercise with an elaborate calendar of activities spanning over 12 months.

    He said that the introduction of the online pre-registration system and the new INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) helped to reduce the long queues witnessed in previous registration centres in 2017 and 2018.

    “We also created additional registration centres and deployed more machines.

    “In three states, Anambra, Ekiti and Osun, the exercise was devolved to ward level to give more citizens the opportunity to register ahead of their off-cycle governorship elections.

    “Similarly, on weekly basis since July 5, 2021, the commission has been giving weekly detailed updates on fresh registrations nationwide.

    “Unfortunately, in some places, the exercise was disrupted by general insecurity.

    “In other places, our local government area offices were consistently attacked resulting in the suspension of all activities, including voter registration.

    “A number of IVED machines were snatched and uncollected PVCs were destroyed.

    “Worse, our registration officials were violently attacked. Some of them were abducted but later released. In one sad incident, an official lost his life,” he said.

    Yakubu said that in spite of these challenges, the CVR had continued nationwide.

    He, however, said that as the deadline for the suspension of the current exercise approaches, INEC had received reports of a surge in the number of prospective registrants.

    “They daily throng INEC state and local government area offices as well as designated centres in many states across the country.

    “I wish to reassure Nigerians that the commission remains committed to ensuring that all citizens who wish to register are given the opportunity to do so.

    “This is one of the reasons why this meeting has been convened. Already, some of the RECs have requested for more voter registration machines to ease the congestion.

    “The commission will deploy additional machines to areas of need immediately.

    “Thereafter, the commission will meet to review the progress of the exercise and take further decisions,” he said.

    The chairman said that INEC would always respond positively to the needs of Nigerians and therefore appealed to all citizens to be patient with the commission as it strives to serve them better.

    “We appreciate the desire of Nigerians to register as voters. Let me reassure all eligible registrants that no one will be left out,” Yakubu said.

  • “Maybe we should get guns instead of this f*cking PVC”- singer, Ruger

    Following a recent attack on parishioners at a catholic church in Ondo State, Nigerian music star, Michael Adebayo Olayinka, popularly known as Ruger, has said “maybe we should get guns instead of this fucking PVC. To hell with this country,” he tweeted.

     

    While expressing his frustration over the attack, the singer took to his Twitter page on Sunday, June 5, 2022, and shared his solutions to the security challenges in the country.

     

    TheNewsGuru (TNG) recalls that On Sunday, June 5, 2022, not fewer than 40 worshippers at St Francis Catholic Church, Owa-luwa Street, Ondo State were murdered in cold blood.

     

    It was gathered that the worshippers were murdered by gunmen while others, however, some people said it was as a result of an explosion.

     

    The gunmen were said to have thrown an improvised explosive device into the building and then opened fire on worshippers who were dashing out for safety.

     

    According to witnesses, the terror group gained access to the church disguised as worshippers.

    The killing of over 50 people in the attack is a testament to the growing insecurity and unaddressed killings in Nigeria.

    Ruger

     

    Since the news broke, several Nigerian celebrities have reacted to the mass murder.

     

    Ruger, is a Nigerian Afrobeat singer and songwriter.

     

    He came into lime-light 2021 after he signed a record deal with D’Prince “Jonzing world record” with a publishing and distribution deal with Columbia Records, and Sony Music Entertainment, U.K division.

     

    On 4 March 2021, he released his debut EP Pandemic.

    “Bounce”, became a major hit song from Pandemic EP, and debuted at number 39 on the Top 50 chart. In the same year, it debuted at number 20, on the TurnTable End of the Year chart. On 19 November 2021, he released his second EP, titled The Second Wave, and was led by “Dior” from the EP, which peaked at number 32 on the Top 50 chart, and number 15 on the UK Afrobeats Singles Chart

  • Yes! PVC is not enough, you must be involved to change our bad government – By Ogunrinde Adewunmi

    By Ogunrinde Adewunmi

     

    These past few months, I have noticed a wild clamour and advocacy for citizens to get their Permanent Voters Card (PVC), which I must say is very admirable.

    Firstly I’ll say, your PVC is not enough, get involved!

    While it’s commendable to get your PVC I hate to put it to you, but the card is not enough to enforce the change we all clamour. I created a poll on social media, asking people if they have their PVC, I made an option of YES/NO, “I am getting one” & “I am never getting one” respectively.

    Honest truth is that the result of the poll helped me realize we are eventually getting involved in our modern-day politics and its activities. In as much as some social media users still chose the option of never getting a PVC. Many of the leading advocates for citizens to be more involved in the country’s politics have relentlessly pointed fingers at the “arguably disastrous tenure” of President Muhammadu Buhari, In the year 2019, of all the total of 67,422,005 registered voters, only 29,432,083 (43.65%) cast their votes in the presidential election. I hope this doesn’t reoccur in 2023, because If WE refuse to participate how do we get the change we desire?

    This reminds me of something that happened sometimes ago, I was with a group of friends and we happened to talk about POLITICS, the conversation went on, and lots of brilliant suggestions and constructive criticisms were flying around until someone asked if we all had our PVC, well, your guess is right! Nobody signified, then it dawned on me that, we need to do more than being a keypad advocate, we need to step up as well, so I took a leap of action by registering for my PVC, I also influenced some of my friends to get theirs as well.

    We stay behind our phones punching in the sweetest of English vocabularies on Twitter and similar platforms, while the “underage northerners”, “illiterates” and “baby thugs” owns their PVC, because they are aware of the power it possesses, they will keep determining our future for as long as we let this narrative play.

    So back to knowing if the our PVC is enough to change the fate of our already “Bad Government”. Personally, I’ll say YES IT CAN and NO IT CAN’T. Getting a PVC isn’t the problem, but a challenge, (In this country because of the way the system operates) but how do we know we are voting for a Responsible candidate? There are so many questions that are better answered by individual voters.

    I think, one thing the PVC guarantees you is your basic right, the right to vote and be voted for(franchise). I’ll add that, the PVC does not guarantee we will vote for a worthy candidate. Where am I headed? Apparently, having your PVC is important, it is because it guarantees you a vote. That way you’re participating,

    Also, the PVC is a card, it does not guarantee good governance, When we elect candidates, we feel they are of good choice,

    Sadly our PVC does not know what they will do or not when they get in power, makes it beyond our control. Lastly, a PVC helps us vote out a bad government, but when voting in a new one, how are we sure we have not voted in a worse candidate? I mean, let’s take President Buhari for an instance, we all thought he was the best candidate or permit me to say, a lot of us thought he was, so we voted for him, hoping for a CHANGE, as he assured.

    I’ll like to agree we got the “CHANGE”, even if it is the total opposite of what we expected. I’m sure many people who voted in this administration has regret(s) but do I blame them? Definitely not!

    No one would have foreseen the disaster. Hence, it is important for voters to be cautious in the choice they make at the polls. The trend in our political history is for the electorate to vote based on emotional and primordial considerations that doesn’t add value to us, as a nation . it’s no gainsaying that, the destiny of this nation including future generations, lies in OUR hands.

    So we shouldn’t just sit down and fold our hands. Getting and voting with your PVC is just the beginning of the journey, we shouldn’t stop there because the real work just began, we need to join hands together to fight for a better country.

    This is all we have.

    So I’ll advise everyone to get involved in the electoral process come 2023 and not adopt the past lackadaisical attitude that has done no good to the nation.

    If Nigeria must move forward every hand must be on deck, enough of bright ideas without implementation, enough of folding of hands, hoping for a messiah, enough of many Nigerians sitting in the luxury of their well-furnished parlors on election day watching the news and analyzing everything going on.

    Get your PVC, it’s our only chance at change!

  • CVR: Fresh registration hits 8.56m – INEC

    CVR: Fresh registration hits 8.56m – INEC

    The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says fresh registration in the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) has hit 8,564,512, as at 7am, Monday April 25.

    The commission disclosed this in an CVR Update on quarter four, week two, released in Abuja on Monday night.

    The commission also disclosed that 5,111,899 registrants had completed their registrations with 2,228,913 via online and 2,882,986 through physical registration.

    According to the commission, the gender breakdown of the registrants that have completed their registration comprised 2,537,932 male and 2,573,967 female.

    Newsmen reports that the released statistics also indicated that 3,534,837 of the figure are youths, while 43,153 are Persons with Disabilities (PWDs).

    The update also revealed that as at the 7am of Monday, INEC had received 15,071,668 applications for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), update of voter information record, etc.

    It added that 7,957,756 of the applications were received from male and 7,113,912 from female, of which 4,120,254 of the applications were from students and 142,807 from PWDs.

  • Get your PVC, elect credible leaders in 2023- Bishop urges voters

    Get your PVC, elect credible leaders in 2023- Bishop urges voters

    Rt. Rev. Christian Onyia, has appealed to eligible voters to get their PVC to enable them vote for credible leaders at the 2023 general elections.

    Onyia said this at the church 6th Diocesan Synod held at the Emmanuel Anglican Church, Iji-Nike, Enugu on Saturday.

    Onyia said that the country needed more credible leaders that would turn around the fortune of the nation for the better.

    He reminded Nigerians that although the country needed leaders with the fear of God, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) would only count votes and not prayer points come 2023.

    “INEC is not going to count prayers. As we pray, we must be focused. That is the part of our campaign for this year’s synod.

    “Our people should go out and get their voting cards, so that come 2023, we will be able to vote in the right people into positions of authority.

    “We need leaders with Jesus Christ in them but we must not forget to get our PVC to elect such leaders,” he said.

    He said that only Jesus Christ knows those with the fear of God, voters must pray for spiritual guidance.

    On the essence of the synod, Onyia said the synod provided the church with an opportunity to give hope to the hopeless in society.

    According to him, the only hope of the hopeless is in Christ, if they discover Him.

  • Osun 2022: Gov. Oyetola appeals to electorate to safeguard PVC

    Osun 2022: Gov. Oyetola appeals to electorate to safeguard PVC

    Gov. Gboyega Oyetola of Osun has urged the electorate in the state to safeguard their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the July 16 gubernatorial election in the state.

    Oyetola made the appeal during an interaction with members of the Nigeria Professional Photographers and Videographers Association on Wednesday in Osogbo.

    Represented by his Special Adviser on Civic Engagement, Mr Olatunbosun Oyintiloye, the governor appealed to the residents not to allow any individual to deceive them to part with their PVCs.

    The governor, who noted that the strength of the electorate is his or her PVC, urged them to jealously guard it.

    Oyetola also urged those who are yet to obtain their PVCs to take advantage of the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    “Some people will want to collect your PVC under the pretence of giving you money or material things.

    “They are all liars. Those things that they did not give you two years ago, they are lying to give you a few months to the election.

    “Our election is coming up on July 16, I appeal to you to get your PVC and use the same to support me and APC.

    “Your PVC is your power. Don’t trade it for fake promises and always keep it safe.

    “Use your PVC to protect and keep in office the administration that is serving you diligently,” the governor said.

    Oyetola, who expressed optimism that APC would win the governorship election convincingly, commended the people of the state for their support since the beginning of his administration.

    He pledged to continue to prioritise the people’s welfare and also protect their interests.

    “I sincerely appreciate the people of the state for their support for us in the state, but you need to show more of this support in the coming election.

    “As you know, I always protect your interest and this is obvious in all our developmental programmes and projects across the state,” Oyetola said.

    The governor also appreciated members of the association for their support for the state government, with a promise that his administration would continue to provide an enabling environment for their businesses.

    In his remarks, the chairman of the association, Mr Isaac Adegoke, commended the state government for its various developmental projects across the state.

    He also appreciated the government for “its unique approach to good governance through continuous engagement with the people’’.

    Adegoke, while also presenting an award for best performance in service to Oyintiloye, said it was to appreciate the contribution and value-added by the Civic engagement centre in reaching out to all social strata in the state.

    He also urged all members of the association to vote for Oyetola in the next election.

  • Why INEC have not made PVCs available – Chairman

    Why INEC have not made PVCs available – Chairman

    Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof. Mahmood Yakubu on Monday has explained the reason for delay in the printing of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVC) for new registrants.

    Yakubu in his keynote address at the opening ceremony of the five-day Induction Retreat for INEC’s National Commissioners in Lagos said the delay is caused by its robust cleaning up of the voter’s register.

    According to him, the commission is encouraged by the response of citizens to the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, as it has recently devolved physical registration beyond the state and local government offices nationwide.

    “Millions of Nigerians have registered so far and we have been giving weekly updates of the progress of the exercise for the last nine months.

    “The commission is aware that new registrants, as well as those who applied for transfer or replacement of the Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs), will like to know when the cards will be available for collection.

    “The reason why we have not made the PVCs available is because of the robust system of cleaning up the registration to ensure that only genuine registrants are added to the voters register using the Automatic Bimodal Identification System (ABIS) for fingerprint and facial clean up.”

    The chairman said that INEC had completed the ABIS for the first and second quarter of the CVR, adding that the commission would meet next week and detailed dates and locations for the collection of PVCs would be announced.

    On the importance of the retreat, he said that the burden to conduct free, fair, credible, acceptable, and inclusive elections was upon the commission, hence the need for each commissioner to be ethical and knowledgeable.

    Yakubu disclosed that INEC now had full complement of 12 National commissioners, adding that the retreat would enable the new commissioners to learn a lot, especially with the coming force of the new Electoral Act 2022.

    “The commission has introduced a number of new innovations that it needs to perfect ahead of the general election, hence the need to continuously engage with citizens and stakeholders.

    “However, while these innovations and stakeholder engagements are critical to preparations for elections, we should bear in mind that equally critical to the conduct of successful elections is our credibility as election managers.

    “Our impartiality dogged adherence to rules, commitment to the sanctity of the ballot and sound knowledge of the electoral process are also critical.

    “This retreat is important, especially coming shortly after we released the timetable and schedule of activities for the 2023 General Election in which party primaries are scheduled to commence next week and end on the first week of June, that is between April 4 and June,” he added.

    Yakubu reassured Nigerians of INEC’s commitment to credible polls in 2023, saying that the commission had concluded work on the Strategic Plan 2022-2026 and Election Project Plan for the 2023 general elections.

    According to him, very soon, INEC will finalise work on the Regulations and Guidelines for elections taking into consideration the provisions of the Electoral Act 2022.

    “The three documents will be published and presented to the public next in April.

    “May I also seize this opportunity to reassure Nigerians that we have identified the challenges associated with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) during voter accreditation,” Yakubu said.

    He said that in the recent bye-elections in six constituencies in four states of the federation across four geo-political zones, the BVAS functioned optimally in rural, sub-urban and urban areas of Cross River, Imo, Ondo and Plateau.

    The INEC chairman said that the commission received no complaints from voters and no reports of glitches from observers in these bye-elections.

    He assured that INEC would continue to perfect the system in the forthcoming bye-elections and the end of tenure for governorship election in Ekiti on June 18 and Osun on July 16.

    “The commission is also working on the distribution of voters to polling units across the country, following the successful expansion of voter access to polling units.

    “Very soon, we will roll out the plan for achieving a more balanced distribution of voters to the polling units.

    “As always, we will engage with stakeholders across the board to ensure a more participatory approach so that the exercise is seamless and voters will have a more pleasant experience at polling units on election day.”

  • 2023: Join political parties, getting PVC not enough – Bishop Okonkwo tells Christians

    2023: Join political parties, getting PVC not enough – Bishop Okonkwo tells Christians

    The Presiding Bishop of The Redeemed Evangelical Mission (TREM), Bishop Mike Okonkwo has charged Christians to join political parties, stressing that getting permanent voter’s card (PVC) is not enough.

    TheNewsGuru.com (TNG) reports Bishop Okonkwo gave the charge during a programme organised in continuation of the Building Leaders for Empowerment and National Transformation (BLENT) at TREM Headquarters in Lagos State.

    Okonkwo especially advised Christians to join any of the existing political parties if they want to make a significant impact in the political leadership of the country.

    He stressed that PVC is not enough, as electing leaders in a democratic dispensation does not start with registering to vote.

    “In Nigeria, we don’t have room for independent candidates, that means political parties are the ones to put forward candidates for elections.

    “The foundation for getting good people into political leadership positions is by joining the political parties. Whether by direct or indirect primaries or by consensus, it is the parties that will field candidates.

    “So, if as Christians we are not part of the party structures, we will be left with making a choice out of two evils like our speaker just said.

    “Me, I don’t want to make any choice from among two evils, I want to choose from good things. It is when candidates are put forward that the issue of using PVC to vote will come in”.

    He continued: “I, therefore, charge you to go to your wards and be part of the process. Be a loud voice, don’t be lost in the crowd. Be engaged and involved. It is like we don’t understand how powerful the government is. The government can kill you if they choose to or put you in jail. Unfortunately, some are reluctant to be part of the process. We bury our heads inside the church and are not engaged.

    “If you sit down and you are left with making a choice out of two evils, do you expect the evil you have chosen to do things that will favour you? It is wishful thinking to believe that by crying on social media things would change”.

    Okonkwo, however, charged Christians to display integrity, commitment and excellence wherever they find themselves.

    On why some Christians get it wrong going into politics, Okonkwo disclosed that some would want to start from the top, instead of learning the ropes and moving up.

    “Some want to become the big guys overnight. They want to start from the big positions. If you really want to serve, why don’t you start from the basics and climb up the ladder of success. If you are a local government chairman and you are determined to make the difference in your corner, that is enough. You will be sending positive messages that would resonate beyond your imagination,” Bishop Okonkwo said.

    Meanwhile, the guest speaker, Mr Sam Kputu, who addressed the occasion on “Becoming a game changer in Nigeria politics,” stressed that there was no doubt that Christians should be involved in politics.

    Kputu, who was a former National Youth Leader of the defunct Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) in the second republic and now a missionary, observed that the family, the church and the government were units set up by God to run things on Earth.

    He explained that the enemy of God is constantly attacking the three and that Christians should not just fold their arms and watch things deteriorate.

    Kputu warned that politics is more than a game because the consequences affect more people.

    “I must sound a note of warning that there are limitations to politics. It can ensure social righteousness and not the righteousness of God. There is also not enough space for everybody to occupy one seat or the other. With a population of over 200 million, we have barely 15,000 elective positions in Nigeria from councillor to the President.

    “Nigerian Christians are significant in number for them to cause great change to happen in the country but they don’t speak with one voice.

    “In 1983, I was with my uncle in a political party that went round the country before the general elections. When we got to the East, the Christians there said God told them Dr Nnamdi Azikiwe would be president.

    “In the West, the Christians there said God told them it would be Chief Obafemi Awolowo, in the North, they mentioned Prof. Ishaya Audu, was it that the people heard from different Gods,” Kputu said.

    He disclosed that Christians should be involved in choosing the nation’s leaders because if the wicked are in power and Christians are hoping for anything good, it would amount to hoping against hope.

    He urges Christians not play politics like unbelievers who would promise heaven and give the people hell, but that they must make positive changes in the polity.

  • CVR Update: INEC records 6m fresh registrants

    CVR Update: INEC records 6m fresh registrants

    6,082,639 Nigerians has done fresh registration in the ongoing nationwide Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) as at 7 a.m., Monday. Feb. 21, this was disclosed by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

    The commission, in an update on the CVR Quarter 3, Week 7 released on Monday in Abuja, also disclosed that 3,329,204 Nigerians completed their registration as at the time of the update.

    It noted that 1,373,240 registrants did online while 1,955,964 did physical registration, of which 28,711 of the figure were Persons With Disabilities (PWDs).

    It noted that the gender distribution shows that 1,675,318 of those that completed their registration were male and 1,653,886 were female of which 2,310,554 were youth between the ages of 18 and 34.

    It also stated that 10,329,413 million registered voters applied for voter transfer, requests for replacement of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) and update of voter information records.

    It noted that 5,506,557 million of the applications were from male voters and 4,822,856 million from female voters, while 100,610 were from PWDS.