The Independent National Electoral Commission has released the actual number of collected and uncollected Permanent Voter Cards in Akwa Ibom, Bayelsa and other Nigerian states to decide the fates of Presidential and National Assembly candidates on Saturday.
PVC collection ended on February 5, after the commission extended the process twice.
A total of 87,209,007 PVCs were collected, while 6,259,229 were uncollected as of February 5.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, announced this in a document released at the daily briefing at the National Collation Centre in Abuja on Thursday.
Based on the disclosure by INEC, 87.2 million voters would determine the fates of Tinubu, Atiku, Obi, Kwankwaso and 14 other presidential candidates.
The commission, in a document made available to journalists, also revealed that 6,259,229 million PVCs were uncollected.
A breakdown of the PVCs collected per state showed that Lagos State topped the list with 6,214,970, followed by Kano State with 5,594,193, Kaduna State with 4,164,473, Katsina State with 3,459,945, and Rivers State with 3,285,789.
Further breakdown of PVCs collected showed that Abia has 1,949,197; Adamawa, 1,970,650; Akwa Ibom, 2,198,628; Anambra State, 2,624,764; Bauchi, 2,721,780; Bayelsa, 1,009,895; Benue State, 2,607,141; Borno State, 2,447,209; Cross River, 1,672,810; Delta State, 2,989,514; and Ebonyi, 1,551,795.
Others are Edo, 2,128,288; Enugu, 1,995,389; Gombe, 1,534,954; Jigawa, 2,298,365; Imo State, 2,280,339; Katsina, 3,459,945; Kebbi, 1,980,171; Kogi, 1,813,741 Niger State, 2,633,726; Ogun State, 2,278,063 and Oyo State 2,761,421.
Ekiti State is the least, in terms of PVCs collected, with 958,052, with Bayelsa State slightly ahead with 1,009,895.
The regional breakdown of PVCs collected showed that North-west led with 21,445,000, followed by South-west with 15,536,213, North-central with 14,603,620, South-south with 13,284,920, North-east 11,937,769, and South-east with 10,401,484.
No PVC, no voting- Yakubu insists
Addressing a press conference in Abuja, Chairman of INEC, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, reiterated that the procedure for voting, as provided in the Electoral Act 2022, made the use of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) mandatory.
Yakubu stressed that no voter would be allowed to vote without the PVC, insisting that the “no PVC, no voting” rule subsists.
The INEC chairman stressed that vote-buying remained a major threat to the country’s democracy, adding that the commission has worked closely with the law enforcement agencies to ensure that this is eliminated from the electoral process.
Yakubu added, “We are convinced that our joint operations before and on election day will vastly reduce the prospect of voter inducement, which is not only illegal but immoral.
“The ban on the use of mobile phones and photographic devices at the voting cubicles is still in place. Some voters have used these devices in previous elections to snap their marked ballot papers for vote transaction.
“However, citizens are permitted to come to the polling units with these devices, as long as they do not take them to the voting cubicles.
“Our arrangement of placing the ballot box near the voting cubicle and away from party agents remains. Our staff have been trained in the administration of the polling units and their attention should be drawn to any deviation from that training.”
Yakubu said in the build-up to the general election, several of the commission’s facilities were attacked by unknown assailants in various parts of the country.
However, he stated, “I am pleased that we have fully recovered from those attacks, and we have been further assured that our facilities, staff, voters, observers, and citizens will be safe during the election.”
The INEC chairman also said, “The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has assured us that it will provide us with the small amount of cash we require from our budget to cash payment to some critical service providers for the election. I must reiterate that the bulk of payment for works goods and services are still paid for by electronic transfer.”
He reiterated that the commission was adequately prepared for the election and remained committed to a free, fair and credible process
Four leading Presidential musketeers
Nigerians are prepared to go to the polls on Saturday to elect a new president in an election that is too close to call with four leading candidates.
The four leading presidential candidates are Bola Tinubu of the All Progressives Congress (APC); Atiku Abubakar of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP); Peter Obi of Labour Party, and New Nigeria Peoples Party’s (NNPP), Rabiu Kwankwaso.
Before now, Bloomberg and ANAL polls had predicted Obi winner of the presidential race.
However, THISDAY projects that the race is too close to call with Obi gaining momentum in Lagos and Ogun States, while Tinubu and Atiku are slugging it out for the soul of Northern Nigeria whose votes are likely to decide the winner.
Atiku’s chances got a major boost with Sheik Dahiru Bauchi, the Supreme Leader of the Islamic Sufi group endorsing his candidature. The prominent Islamic scholar endorsed Atiku in a message to his followers.
“You can’t bite true believer twice. Some people were saying vote for who will continue from where they stop. We didn’t enjoy where they stopped.
“Majority of my People told me that they will vote for Atiku, and I will not leave my people. I will be with my people to see what almighty Allah will do. We are praying to Allah to give Nigeria the best leader who will ease the sufferings of Nigeria and bring rapid development,” the Islamic cleric said.
According to THISDAY findings, among those who vote based on religious sentiments, Obi will take up to 75% of Christian votes while Atiku, Tinubu and Kwankwaso will share the Muslim votes.
But Thursday’s endorsement of Atiku by influential Muslim clerics could make a difference for the former Vice President just as he will also benefit from voters who vote regionally with Northern voters going mainly for him while Tinubu and Obi will share Southern voters.
The road to the Presidency for Tinubu remains with the South West/North West combo, but he has to get Buhari’s voters on his side – which is proving challenging.
With a race so tight a run-off is a possibility and will pitch the man with the highest votes against the man with most geographical spread.
Projections
Obi leads in most of South East and South South states with a strong showing in Lagos, Benue and a possible win in Plateau State.
Tinubu, on his part, leads in the South West, Borno and Yobe States, with a strong showing in North West.
Atiku has a strong showing in most of the North, while leading in Adamawa, Bauchi, Jigawa, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi, Delta, Akwa Ibom and Taraba States, with a very strong showing in Zamfara, Niger, Kwara, Nasarawa and Osun States.
Kwankwaso is leading in Kano with a strong showing in Jigawa, Katsina and Taraba States.
As the world’s attention remains razor focused on tomorrow’s election, the United States President Joe Biden, on Thursday, restated his country’s commitment to free and fair polls in Nigeria.
Similarly, the diplomatic missions of the United States, Australia, Japan, Norway, Canada, and the United Kingdom in Nigeria lauded the signing of a second peace accord by the candidates competing in the upcoming presidential election.
President of the Senate, Ahmad Lawan, urged Nigerians to conduct themselves peacefully during the period of the elections.
Lawan also asked voters to choose the presidential candidate of All Progressives Congress (APC), Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, in a statement on Thursday which he personally signed.
