2019 elections: President Buhari tasks governors on voter education
- President Buhari is keen on Nigerians obtaining their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) ahead of the 2019 general elections
- The president enjoined governors to embark on voter education in their various states to ensure citizens get their PVCs
- According to him, the voters card is the people's national card
State governors were enjoined by President Muhammadu Buhari on Tuesday, May 29, to embark on voter education exercise to enable Nigerians obtain their PVC to vote for the candidates of their choice in the 2019 general elections.
The president gave the charge at the breaking of fast with members of the judiciary led by Justice Okukayode Ariwoola, Justice of the Supreme Court, at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He said the call had become imperative so as to enable eligible Nigerians obtain their PVC and vote anybody of their choice devoid of religion or ethnicity.
READ ALSO: Read the full text of President Buhari’s 2018 Democracy Day broadcast
“I decided to put agbada and come back, I tried three times and then the fourth time I eventually made it. Thanks to God and thanks to technology because this permanent voter card and card readers are fantastic. Those who went to their polling booths in their constituency and voted, their votes counted.
“Before, votes were disregarded and results written and there was nothing you can do before the justices to prove your case. But now with technology it has been made easy. That is why I keep appealing to the governors to embark on voters education, to please tell the people that their voters card is their national card so to speak.
“Let them vote for anybody they want across ethnicity and religion and impose their decisions on them. I think that is why I am calling on and I am begging the governors to please continue with voters’ education so that people will take their permanent voters card seriously and make sure that they don’t loose it,’’ he said.
The president, who attributed his victory at the 2015 polls to technology, urged the members of the judiciary to also help in educating Nigerians on the importance of PVC.
His words: “I am bothering you with this because you are in a position of influence and you come from a constituency that is recognized and what you say will mean a lot to the people at your constituency.’’
Retired Chief Justice of the Federation, Justice Alfa Belgore, who spoke on behalf of the delegation, observed that the ongoing economic challenges were not peculiar to Nigeria alone and commended the administration’s effort to fix it.
He said: “The economy is down all over Africa so if we have any other problem now, it’s just a child’s play with what is happening in other countries. I pray that this country will continue to develop under you. God will continue to guide you right and the country will be very very strong."
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Meanwhile, Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue state, on Tuesday, May 29, exonerated President Buhari from the herdsmen killings in the state, stressing that those linking the president to attacks were being mischievous.
He recalled that the herdsmen crisis predated the present administration assuring that the people of the state would still support the president in the coming 2019 general elections despite the losses and pains they suffered as a result of the herdsmen incursions in the state.
Benue elders speak on herdsmen attacks on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng