Adewole Kehinde, a reporter for the online news site Swift Reporters, has sued the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) because they wouldn’t give him access to his voter card.
According to The Punch, he moved his voter registration from Area 11 to Nyanya, Abuja after moving into his new home, as evidenced by printouts and texts exchanged with a commission officer and the journalist.
A reporter for The Punch saw one of the printouts that said that no matter how many times Kehinde went to the INEC office, his card could not be found.
Kehinde says that I moved my Permanent Voters Card from Area 11 near the intersection with Area 3 to my new home in Nyanya in July 2022.
“I went online to make sure that, according to the INEC website, my card had been successfully moved to Nyanya. arriving at the AMAC-affiliated INEC office in Karu.
“My slip was picked up, and after three hours, I was informed that my card couldn’t be located.” I completed a form, and I was instructed to return it in two weeks.
“As I was informed, the same “NOT SEEN” notice appeared for exactly two weeks. I attended INEC offices to acquire my PVC for the seventh time today, Saturday, February 4, 2023, but they keep writing “not seen” on my slip.
“I brought it to Festus Okoye’s notice at INEC, and he promised to look into it and get back to me, but as of right now, I haven’t heard from him.
“Even though my one vote is significantly more than N500 million, I have no choice but to challenge INEC because they want to take away my fundamental right to vote.”
“Thousands of Nigerians have approached me to express interest in joining the lawsuit against INEC, and I’m hoping that my lawyer will serve INEC by Monday, February 7th.”
Either INEC prints my PVC by February 25th, 2023, or the election will be postponed by the court until I receive my PVC.
“INEC can’t just refuse my vote, and I can’t cast it because my old PVC has been moved to Nyanya,” Adewole said.