The coalition stated that denying the voters their right to vote due to a failure on the part of INEC was unacceptable.
A coalition of non-governmental and human right organisations has described the emphasis on a deadline for collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) as an indirect disenfranchisement of validly registered voters whose PVCs are not available.
The unavailability of the PVCs, according to the coalition, was due to administrative lapses from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The coalition which made this known in a statement issued on Friday, stated that denying the voters their right to vote due to a failure on the part of INEC was unacceptable.
According to the CSOs, reports from voters in different collection centres across the country revealed that some validly registered voters were informed by the INEC officials that their PVCs were not available; while some others were asked to return on a later day beyond the deadline or after the election to collect their PVCs.
The group also raised concern about the students who registered at home while tertiary institutions were shut down for over eight months, stressing that INEC must ensure they could pick up their cards in the least expensive way possible.
The coalition included the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), ConnectHub, Dataphyte, Enough Is Enough Nigeria, #FixPolitics, Kimpact Development Initiative (KDI), Reclaim Naija among others.
The statement reads in part; "According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards will end this Sunday, January 29, at 5pm.
"However, reports from voters in different collection centres across the country revealed that some validly registered voters were informed by the INEC officials that their PVCs were not available; while some others were asked to return on a later day beyond the deadline or after the election to collect their PVCs.
"This is a breach of the Electoral Act 2022 which mandates INEC in Section 16(1) to design, print and issue voter’s cards to voters whose names appear in the register of voters. INEC also, had further committed to and promised that everyone registered and, in their database, will have their PVC provided and available for collection.
"The emphasis on a deadline for collection is an indirect disenfranchisement of validly registered voters whose PVCs are not available due to INEC’s administrative lapses. Denying these voters their right to vote due to a failure on the part of INEC is unacceptable.
"And to be clear, this is not only a problem in Lagos. Citizens have provided reports from Abuja, Rivers, Delta, Anambra, Imo, Ondo, Nasarawa, Akwa Ibom, Kaduna, Borno, Sokoto, Ogun, Kano, and Kwara.
"We also note the concern of the students who registered at home while tertiary institutions were shut down for over 8 months. According to INEC, 40% of the 9,518,188 newly registered voters are students. If they registered at home and are now at school, INEC must ensure they can pick up their cards in the least expensive way possible.
"Reclaim Naija has received hundreds of calls and texts from its observers across the country about these challenges. With six episodes of Twitter Spaces and three Instagram Lives with different INEC officials; in addition to reports submitted through its www.rsvp.ng Complaints Portal, EiE Nigeria has supported over 10,000 voters through this PVC Collection process.
"Given the reported challenges, we ask that INEC do the following: Inform Nigerians if it is still printing cards and when all the cards for registered voters will be available for collection.
"Extend PVC Collection to ensure that everyone whose cards were not found are reprinted, and there is a clear process for them to pick up the cards. Work with the Nigerian Universities Commission (NUC) to ensure that there are no classes or exams the week before elections so students can go home to vote.
"Communicate with newly registered voter’s especially students when the PVCs are ready. Create a dedicated desk for civil society organisations, media and citizens to escalate the issues being observed for quick resolution.”
"The engine to drive this process is clear and proactive information sharing from INEC. There are high expectations for this election and INEC cannot be seen to be deliberately or inadvertently disenfranchising certain groups of people," the statement added.