2023: NANS demands closure of varsities over PVCs

The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) on Sunday demanded the closure of all tertiary institutions in the country over the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

The NANS Vice President in charge of External Affairs, Akintoye Afeez, made this call in a statement on Sunday.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday extended the deadline for the election of PVCs to February 5.

He said: “The Federal Government should immediately close all tertiary institutions temporarily to afford students the opportunity to collect their PVCs from their local government areas and vote in the forthcoming elections in light of the extension of the deadline for the collection of PVCs and the fact that the general election would start in a few weeks.

READ ALSO: INEC extends deadline for collection of PVCs by another 7 days

“In time past, the lack of flexibility of the Independent National Electoral Commission and the management of tertiary institutions has made it difficult and almost impossible for students to participate in the electoral process.

“The case is now different for the 2023 elections. This is because, during the continuous voter registration exercise, students were in their various homes due to the prolonged Academic Staff Union of Universities’ strike and about four million (according to statistics) of us registered newly for our PVCs.

“Now that we have registered for our PVCs and they have been processed, our tertiary institutions are not considering academic breaks for students during the general election, despite knowing that most students registered outside their campuses.”

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