Sometimes ago, I had reasons to write the Part 1 published on the 23rd October, 2021 and Part 2 published 28th April, 2022 respectively of this article to wit, I highlighted numerous reasons as to why Nigerians should obtain their Permanent Voter Card in order for them to elect political candidates of their choices into all available elective posts or positions as the case may be.

Election remains the only viable means of electing persons aspiring for any elective positions in Nigeria and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) is the statutory saddled with the constitutional responsibility of organizing and conducting election in Nigeria having been established by the 1999 Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria to among other things organize elections into various political offices in the country with other functions enshrined in Section 15, Part 1 of the Third Schedule of the 1999 Constitution (As Amended) as well as Section 2 of the Electoral Act 2022 (As Amended).

It is no longer news that, come February 25th, 2023 and March 11th, 2023 respectively, Nigerians will march to their respective Polling Units to exercise their franchise and civic responsibilities.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) most recently released the data of registered voters to the tons of 93 Million to wit North-West and South-West leads. The computational data of the register voters as released by INEC as at the 12th January, 2023 are stated below:
North East is 12,542,429, North West is 22,255,562, North Central is 15,363,731, South East is 10,907,606, South South is 14,440,714 while South West is 17,958,966 respectively.

Surprisingly, the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria vested the power to elect persons to any political post in Nigeria in the hands of Nigerians. Your power is in the Permanent Voter Card which can be used to elect candidates of your choice at your respective Polling Units.

Among the 93,469,008 Million register voters consisting of about 49,054,162 0r 52.5 per cent of the total male voters while the remaining 44,414,846 or 47.5 per cent are female voters in Nigeria, do you belong to this category of persons? If yes, have you collected your Permanent Voter Card yet? If the answer is in the affirmative, then, I wish you congratulations and this article might not be for you. However, if the answer is in the negative, then, this article is specially written for you. What are you waiting for? What is preventing you from collecting yours? Do you want Nigeria to be great and more productive? If the above questions can be answered in the affirmative, then, you must take a drastic step toward ensuring that, you obtain your Permanent Voter Card.

According to the Independent National Electoral Commission, collection of Permanent Voter Card at all her nationwide offices including wards commences from 12th December, 2022 and ends 27th January, 2023 (All thanks to the INEC for extending the timeframe for PVC collection nationwide in the regular meeting held on the 12th day of January, 2023). Currently, the card distribution has begun at Ward level since on the 6th day of January, 2023. After the 15th of January 2023, the exercise will revert to the local government offices of the Commission until 27th January 2023. All eligible and valid registrants can collect their PVCs from 9.00am to 3.00pm daily, Saturdays and Sundays included.

This is not the time to sit on the fence and do nothing because, according to the demography released by INEC the Youth (18-34) is 37,060,399 making 39.65%; Middle-Aged (35-49) is 33,413,591 making 35.75%; the Elderly (50-69) is 17,700,270 making 18.94% while the Senior Citizens or Old (70+) is 5,294,748 making 5.66% respectively. From the abovementioned demography, power to elect candidates into their respective desired offices i.e. Office of the President; Office of the Governors; Senators; as well as House of Representatives etc., lies in the Youth and Middle-Aged groups. You must get involved. Now is the time for Nigerian to act and act wisely during the election period. Take that steps and be part of the Nigeria-Success-Story. The future that you want can become a reality if only you collect your PVCs and vote wisely during the forthcoming election. Yes, we can!

AYODELE SAMUEL ADEPITAN ESQ.

The writer can be contacted via +2348134524440 (WhatsApp/SMS only); +2348074584569 (Call only) or [email protected]; [email protected] respectively. Thank you.