A Chieftain of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) in Kwara State,
Alhaji Abdul-Rahoof Bello-Làbẹ́làbẹ́ has made a case for a public
holiday to enable residents to collect their Permanent Voter’s Card
(PVC).
Bello-Labelabe, in a statement on Monday in Ilorin, appealed to
Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq to declare the holiday to enable civil
and public servants to collect, replace or transfer their PVC to
polling units of their choice.
The SDP stalwart, also a public analyst said he had earlier made the
appeal during his weekly Radio programme “Gbángbádẹ́kun” on Harmony
FM, Idofian, added the statement was to add weight to the radio
programme.
He cited examples of Zamfara, Abia, Niger, and many other state
governors that have declared a public holiday to demonstrate their
sense of duty and patriotism.
According to Bello-Làbẹ́làbẹ́, it was important for the state
government to complement INEC’s efforts and generosity in extending
the ongoing registration exercise by a few days in line with
international best practices.
He emphasised the importance of the Voter’s Card in participatory
democracy in conjunction with citizens’ civic responsibility as
enshrined in Chapter II, Sec. 24, of the 1999 Constitution of the
Federal Republic of Nigeria, as amended.
Bello-Làbẹ́làbẹ́ doubted the possibility of workers fulfilling this
political obligation if not allowed to update their electoral records
with INEC at this point in time.
He, therefore, called on every adult of voting age to visit the
nearest INEC registration centre to their residence to replace damaged
PVC or update their image and bio data to avoid being disenfranchised
in the 2023 elections.
