The Northern Elders Forum (NEF) says permanent voter cards (PVCs) are being sold for N1000 in the North.
The forum raised the alarm on Friday, accusing politicians from the region of taking advantage of vulnerable persons in the North, especially women.
The NEF’s Director of Publicity and Advocacy, Dr. Hakeem Baba-Ahmed, said while disclosing the Forum’s recent findings on the alleged proliferation of vote suppression in the region.
“It appears that the targeting is real. They target the most vulnerable, which is women. In the North, more women vote than men. More women have an interest in election activities, and on voting days, a lot more women come out to vote. But the economy makes them more vulnerable.
“So it’s a targeted, conscious and deliberate effort to reduce each other’s support. People look at areas where they are strong and where the opposition is strong. And what they do is go into places where particularly the opposition is strong and they buy off PVCs.
“I have to say, it’s not just taking place in the North but a huge part of it is captialising on the poverty, particularly of women, and people are being separated from their voter cards,” he said.
Baba-Ahmed however stated that the investigation by the Forum did not indict anyone in particular.
“We were not able to establish a specific partisan bent on this. There are huge numbers of people involved in this,” he said.
