Nigeria’s Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the printing of 33.5 million permanent voters’ cards at a cost of N2.117 billion (about US$140 million) in addition to the 40 million permanent cards, which had earlier been produced.Nigeria’s Information minister Labaran Maku, who briefed journalists after the FEC meeting on Wednesday in Abuja, said that the council also ratified the insitutionalisation of six-level National Vocational Qualifications Frame-work (NVQF) and the placement of national vocational qualifications in the scheme of service.
Maku explained that the approval for the permanent voters’ cards would enable more Nigerians to have the voters’ cards so that no eligible voter would be disenfranchised in the 2015 general elections.
Following the successful conduct of the nationwide voter registration exercise in 2011, INEC proposed to print 73.5 million permanent voters’ cards to replace the temporary voters’ cards issued during the voters’ registration exercise. The commission printed 40 million permanent voters’ cards in 2011 for the first phase, which is in progress, he said.
“But there is the need to print and issue the remaining 33.5 million permanent voters’ cards in this second phase. After the adoption of the previous conclusions, Mr. President tabled a memorandum to seek council’s approval for the printing of 33.5 million permanent voters’ cards,” he said.
Maku said that the contract was awarded to Messrs ACT Technologies Limited in the sum of N2.117 billion (about US$160 million) with a completion period of six months.
The minister noted that INEC briefed and convinced the Council on the need to adopt the use of National Identity Cards as the basis for future elections.
According to Maku, the permanent voters’ cards will only be in use for not more than 10 years and that the cards will be used for the 2015 and 2019 general elections, after which the National Identity Cards would now be used as instruments of identification for subsequent elections.
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