The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has announced a further extension of the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards PVCs by one week.

Accordingly, the new deadline is February 5.

INEC earlier extended the deadline for the collection of PVCs but a National Commissioner with the electoral umpire Festus Okoye said it has been extended by one week, the second time it is doing so.

He said the move followed a meeting of INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs).

“Arising from reports from the various States and discussions with Resident Electoral Commissioners, the Commission has decided to further extend PVC collection in all its Local Government Offices nationwide by an additional one week. The ongoing collection of PVCs nationwide will therefore continue and end on 5th February 2023,” Okoye said in a statement on Saturday.

“This is the second time the Commission is extending PVC collection nationwide and this will be the last extension of the exercise. The collection period has further been extended by an additional two hours and will start at 9 am and end at 5 pm daily including Saturdays and Sundays.”

He encouraged Nigerians who are yet to pick their PVCs, saying it is encouraged by the progress made so far in that regard.

“The Commission once again salutes the patience and doggedness of citizens,” Okoye’s statement added.

INEC, therefore, called on Nigerians to report sharp practices in PVC collection centres, assuring that the Commission will act on them.

“The Commission will continue to act on all reported cases of sharp practices during the ongoing PVC collection and will ensure that no Nigerian is disadvantaged and all those that carried out valid registration have an opportunity of collecting their PVCs,” it said.