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From Romanus Ugwu, Abuja
The chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Joash Amupitan, has disclosed that the commission has produced Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) and concluded the purchase of non-sensitive materials required for next year’s general elections.
Speaking when members of the Independent Electoral and Boundaries Commission (IEBC), Kenya, paid him a courtesy visit on Thursday, the electoral umpire’s boss declared readiness for the polls.
Represented by a National Commissioner, Rhoda Gumus, the commission noted: “The purpose of our visitation around the zones is to see how prepared we are, assess what the zones have put in place, the challenges and what to do. We concluded that visitation last week and we can see from our tour that we are really, really going towards the election proper.
“Right now, all non-sensitive materials are almost ready. In fact, today as we speak here, the non-sensitive materials have been lifted to some zones now. I spoke to the commissioner in charge of that. Every activity, small, big, whatever you think of, is now going well. In fact, as of today, we can say that the PVCs have been produced and the first, second batch, in most of the states have received them.
“Their PVCs collection is ongoing because that is one of the major things that in the election, all those who are supposed to be the voters, supposed to receive their PVCs and if they don’t have it, it is also another challenge.
“What is going on right now is capacity building for staff, all the staff in the headquarters and in the states outside the capital. Our BVAS machines have been procured and deployment is ongoing,” he said.
On diaspora voting, which featured in the discussions, Gumus said the provision was not captured in the extant electoral law and the commission could not proceed with it until the law was amended.
She said the commission had made arrangements for its directors to hold an interactive session with the Kenyan delegation, during which they would present papers on the operations of their respective departments.
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“We are open to questions,” she told the visitors, adding that the directors would provide the information the delegation needed.
Earlier, Mr Parashina thanked the commission for granting the delegation an audience despite its tight schedule ahead of the elections, which are expected in January and February next year.
He described the visit as a sign of the friendship between both countries and noted that Kenya would hold its own general elections in August next year.
“The success of Nigeria remains a great success to Kenya and indeed to the continent,” he said, describing Nigeria as the biggest democracy in Africa.
The High Commissioner said the IEBC team was in Nigeria to learn from the commission’s experience as Kenya sought to expand voting rights, particularly for Kenyans living abroad.
He said the team was also mapping out how special interest groups could be accommodated in the voting process.
According to him, Kenyans in about 12 countries voted in the last general election, with plans to extend the arrangement to about 26 countries. He explained that this was a constitutional requirement, reinforced by court rulings that must be implemented progressively.
