On Monday, the Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS) announced that it had retrieved 106 Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) from foreign residents of Kwara State.
This was discussed by the state’s Comptroller of NIS, Aminu Shamsuddin, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
During the regular patrol by immigration officers in the Ilorin metropolis, the comptroller stated that some foreigners were found with Nigerian PVC.
He stated that the NIS had educated all foreigners on election regulations and invited them to educate them on the consequences of violators.
“Shamsuddin” stated:
“The foreigners were terrified to hear during one of the sensitization talks that anyone caught participating in any way in the Nigerian elections would be imprisoned, repatriated, and blacklisted.
“Some of the foreigners who had Nigerian PVCs willingly dropped their cards and returned to their various countries following the entire election exercise,”
The majority of those involved were young people, both male and female, from Ghana, the Benin Republic, and the Niger Republic.
“They claimed that their landlords in their various residences encouraged them to get PVCs and vote during the election, so as to increase the number of votes for their various candidates,” the article reads.
He warned that foreigners caught with PVC will be imprisoned, repatriated, and placed on a blacklist, which means they will not be allowed back into Nigeria.