The Big Tent Coalition led by Prof. Pat Utomi of political parties and civil society groups for Obi-Datti has asked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the January 29 deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVC).
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the group is rooting for the Presidential ambitions of the Presidential Candidate of the Labor Party, Mr. Peter Obi and his running mate, Dr. Yusuf Datti.
Utomi made this clarion call on the grassroots involvement of the Big Tent for the ObiDatti movement with another round of the ‘Nigeria Clean-Up Project’ in Lagos to promote a culture of cleanliness of mind, body and environment.
In a statement by Mr. Charles Odibo, Director of Media and Communications for the Big Tent, Utomi said there is no “justification to stop the PVC collection exercise when many people are not collecting, despite their good efforts.”
A renowned professor of political economy said: “INEC must rise to the full meaning of its name by ensuring that its staff do not collude with political bandits to indirectly eliminate millions of Nigerians.
“We have information that millions of Nigerians are being disenfranchised due to deliberate non-launch of PVCs. INEC must ensure that every registered voter is given the opportunity to collect PVCs.
“For three days, INEC staff operating from Falomo Primary School, Ikoyi, Lagos, have not been seen at their post and this is a repeated story everywhere.”
He therefore suggested that leading private sector organizations like chambers of commerce, economic summit groups and civil society organizations could assist INEC in the distribution of PVCs.
According to him, this has become necessary “because it appears that the INEC staff has been stretched”.
Utomi also enjoined the international community to ensure that INEC does not compromise its independence through pressure from the political elite “who now know that their time is running out.”
The Chairman, who noted that Nigeria cannot relive the days of bad leadership, said most Nigerians “have decided to support the more reliable, competent, young, energetic and reliable candidate of the Labor Party, Obi.”
Utomi, in the Clean Up Nigeria event which is also held together throughout the country, said it is time to invite everyone to look at where the country is and to look at how much it needs cleaning.
Utomi said: “Cleaning starts from the physical, we need to clean the environment because climate change is real.
“We must clear our conscience, because to serve the people is the main demand of our citizenship, we must clear the way for our country to move forward.”
He encouraged Nigerians to keep the environment clean.
Utomi said, in terms of cleaning the environment, “we are clean from corruption, clean from nepotism, clean from usurping the country, clean from the desire to dominate others because it is really fascism and has invaded our politics. “
Utomi also observed that Africa remains the host of important forest belts that play an important role in absorbing carbon emissions and thereby making the country a better part of the planet.
“If our young people are committed to saving the planet, it can be an outlet for many things, an outlet to save the dessert to our country that directly leads to poverty.
“Our concern is to stop desertification, to build a green army from which we can receive great credit for our country,” said Utomi.
The professor, therefore, said he hopes young people learn what President Kennedy told the youth of America.
“Ask not what your country can do for you, but what you can do for your country,” Utomi was quoted as saying by Kennedy.
He said: “With Nigerian youths going around, cleaning up our rural areas while cleaning up our urban areas, we will be able to produce an economic engine that will advance our economy.
“But more importantly, we will be able to ask young people to bond, participate in current issues, and learn how to change the country, take the country, clean the environment, will clean the consciousness and give us a new country that we can be proud of.
NAN recalled that INEC had fixed December 12, 2022 to January 22 for the collection of PVCs before the commission extended the deadline to January 29.