Why We Must All Shun the Invitation to Obtain Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC) – LONIM

The terminology, “Permanent Voters’ Card” (PVC) is neither in the Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar-written fraudulent 1999 Constitution of Nigeria nor is it stated in any of the 158 sections of the Electoral Act, 2010 (as amended in 2015) by which the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) was established. According to Section-16 of the Electoral Act, 2010, INEC is empowered to design, print, issue, and control the issuance of voters’ cards. It is most likely that in the process of carrying out relevant aspect of this function, as well as in the mandate of Schedule-3 Part-1 Section-15(e) of the same fraudulent Constitution, INEC came up with the terminology of “PVC”. Be that as it may, there are three key reasons why everyone must shun the call to obtain the so-called “PVC”.

First, the establishment of INEC is mandated under Section-153(f) of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution. This much-talked-about Constitution was written by Retired General Abdulsalami Abubakar without the consent and agreement of We the people.… living within the geopolitical space called Nigeria.  The so-called Constitution, which was kick-started with military “Decree #24” of 1999, was forced upon the people with a false claim on the preamble that “We the people of the Federal Republic of Nigeria …. do hereby make, enact and give to ourselves the following Constitution.”  Therefore, ab-initio, the so-called Nigerian Constitution is a fraud. Meaning that whatever the said constitution establishes (e.g. INEC) is, by inference, established on fraud. How can we, in good conscience, continue to support a fraudulent constitution and the organs and agencies that such a fraud promotes?

1999 Constitution was written under the direction of General Abdulsalami Abubakar who, subsequently, put the document into effect through the issuance of Military Decree No 24 of 1999.

The second reason why we should shun the frantic call, especially by political jobbers and their hirelings, to obtain the PVC is that most of the constituent nations of Nigeria are calling for either self-determination or restructuring. For those calling for self-determination, the idea of obtaining PVC in preparations for another general election in 2019 is self-defeating and anachronistic. Self-determination groups have averred that referendum is the route through which to gauge the minds of their nationalities on the continual stay in the British-created union and geopolitical space called Nigeria. Currently, there is no provision for Referendum in the aforesaid fraudulent Constitution of Nigeria. For Referendum to be included, it requires a constitutional amendment. Section-9 of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution deals with the amendment but it gives undue advantage to the Northern Region by virtue of Section-3, Section-48, and Section-49.

Those clamoring for a genuine restructuring of the British-created Nigeria, have insisted that such exercise must be done outside of the prevailing fraudulent 1999 Constitution and beyond the purview/approval of the associated National Assembly or any political setup engendered by the said fraudulent constitution. They also insisted that the restructuring exercise must take place before any further election, be it 2019 or whenever. Hence the call for people to obtain PVC should be ignored because of these two scenarios (Self-determination and Restructuring).

The third reason to ignore the call to obtain PVC arises from the lopsided nature of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution regarding; (i) number of states in the Northern Region versus Southern Regions and (ii) the criteria for determining the winner of presidential election as stipulated in Section-134(2) of the fraudulent constitution. Obtaining the PVC by voters in the Southern Regions of Nigeria will scuttle the stakeholders’ self-determination plans because doing so will give the presidential candidates from the Northern Region the opportunity to easily satisfy Section-134(2b) of the fraudulent Constitution. Shunning the PVC will create a condition that will make it impossible to satisfy this very constitutional provision and will force minders of the Sokoto Islamic Caliphate to the negotiating table for a discussion on the way forward for devolution of the British-created criminality and contraption called unitary Nigeria.

To recap, INEC-controlled electoral processes, such as obtaining the PVC, is an offshoot of the fraudulent 1999 Constitution that was written and decreed into effect by one man called Retired Gen. Abdulsalami Abubakar. To continue to participate in INEC-controlled electoral processes is to continue to support the illegality and fraud engendered by the fraudulent constitution. The stakeholders insisting on self-determination and restructuring are vehemently opposed to further elections in Nigeria on the basis of the fraudulent and imposed 1999 Constitution until their demands are met, hence there is no need to obtain any PVC being peddled by the INEC. For those in the Southern Regions of Nigeria, obtaining the so-called PVC and participating in INEC’s jaded electoral gymnastics, including 2019 general elections, will be the final nail on the coffin of their self-determination quest and the deafening clamor for immediate Restructuring of the status quo.

We must, therefore, uniformly shun any call to obtain PVC now!!!

Dr. Clifford Chukwuemeka Iroanya
LONIM Secretariat