The Nigerian Immigration Service, NIS, has requested some immigrants from Economic Community of West African States, ECOWAS member countries living in Akwa Ibom State to return the Permanent Voter’s Card (PVCs) they illegally collected from the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
The call was predicated on revelations by some of the immigrants that they were induced by some unidentified politicians to obtain the cards so as to be able to participate in the forthcoming elections.
President of the Togolese community in Akwa Ibom State, Mr. Innocent Keuosseh, revealed this in Uyo on Wednesday during a stakeholder’s forum organized by the state office of NIS. He confessed that some of the immigrants, who married in the state, had been registered as eligible voters by their in-laws, who were politicians.
Corroborating what the Togolese claimed, a Ghanaian who is married to an indigene of the state, Mr. Charles Furson, added that there are politicians who had enticed them with gifts to secure votes in elections.
“I was given N500, maggi and salt, many of us have these cards,” Furson said.
Introducing a new twist to the development, another Ghanaian identified as Mr Gideon Kwamena, revealed that some of them acquired the PVCs to enable them carry out banking transactions with ease.
In his reaction, the Comptroller of Akwa Ibom State Command of Immigrations, Mr. Abdullahi Garba, urged the foreigners to return all PVCs they have collected to his office for onward transmission to INEC.
Insisting that foreigners were not allowed to possess PVCs in the first place as they were not Nigerian citizens, Garba stressed that no foreigner would be allowed to vote or be voted for in the February general elections.
The Comptroller, who warned that immigration officers would be at the polling stations to monitor and arrest any foreigner who may want to vote during the elections, said, “We trust that you know your role as members of ECOWAS, and you know your rights and limitations as residents of this state. As members of ECOWAS in the state, your right is limited. You are not allowed to vote or be voted for.
“You should not be seen to constitute a problem to election process in the country. If you don’t have anything doing, take rest that day”, he cautioned which detailing the District Immigration Officers to be on the alert in order to apprehend any foreigner who flouts the directive of the Immigration Service.”
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