The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Friday urged Nigerians to disregard misleading stories trending in some reports that Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) issued in 2011 needed revalidation.
The commission gave the advice in a statement by the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, in Abuja on Friday.
INEC was reacting to viral reports that called on registered voters to check the back of their cards, warning that “if it was registered in 2011, you need to revalidate it at the INEC office.
The misleading report also claimed that the new INEC Card reader for the 2023 election would not be able to read the carding telling people to do it now to avoid disenfranchisement.
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Reacting, Oyekanmi said that PVCs issued by INEC in 2011 and after could still be used by their respective owners to vote in all elections.
He also described as untrue the report that “New Card Reader” would be used for the 2023 general elections.
“What the Commission intends to use is a multi-purpose gadget, known as the INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED).
“ It is currently being used for the physical registration of voters.
“During an election, it will facilitate the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), which provides for both fingerprint and facial authentication.
“The device will also be used to upload individual polling unit election results to the INEC Result Viewing portal (IReV) in real-time on election day”.
INEC urged Nigerians to disregard the fake news stressing that there is no need to revalidate any PVC issued by INEC for election purposes.