Political economist and chieftain of the Labour Party (LP), Professor Pat Utomi has accused the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) of not doing enough regarding the issuance of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2023 elections.
He also added that the voter registration exercise should not have been suspended as it should be a continuous exercise.
In his view, suspending the Continous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise is against the democratic rights of Nigerians.
On the PVCs, Utomi submitted that INEC should put more effort to ensure people get their cards after getting registered.
Naija News reports he made the submissions during a guest appearance on Newsnight, a pre-recorded show on Channels Television.
He said: “I don’t like the fact that voter registration is not continuing, I think that is an invasion of the democratic rights of the citizens.
“INEC likes to put bureaucracy above democracy. I think that all efforts need to be made to ensure that people are getting their PVC after registration. I don’t think they are doing enough; I think more needs to be done.”
He said INEC must put in more effort to be seen as a fair umpire and not just a willing tool in the hands of the political elites.
2023 And Insecurity
Prof Utomi warned that the ravaging insecurity in many parts of the country is a great threat to the successful conduct of the 2023 elections and the signs must not be ignored.
He however challenged the government to increase efforts at curbing insecurity so that the forthcoming polls can be smooth and fair.
He said, “We must do everything to contain as much of it as possible to make a democratic process work next year.
“Nothing about this state of insecurity is a surprise. Just at a time, the civilian government was coming in in 1999, an American predicted what we are going through.”
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