The Nigeria Immigration Service (NIS), on Monday, February 6, said that it has seized 106 permanent voter cards (PVCs) from foreigners residing in Kwara state.
Aminu Shamsuddin, the state comptroller of NIS, while confirming the development, said that some citizens of Ghana and Niger Republic were caught in possession of the PVCs during the regular patrol by immigration officers within the Ilorin metropolis.
He added that the NIS has sensitized all foreigners on the rules and regulations surrounding the elections and educated them on the punishment that awaits violators.
“During one of the sensitisation lectures, the foreigners were scared to hear that anybody caught participating in any way during the elections would be jailed, repatriated and blacklisted,” Shamsuddin said.
“Some of the foreigners who had the PVCs willingly dropped their cards and travelled back to their various countries, to return after the whole election exercise.
“Most of the people involved in the act were youths, both males and females, from Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Ghana.
“They claimed that their landlords in their various residences encouraged them to get the PVCs and vote during election so as to increase the number of votes for their various candidates,” he added.
It is worth noting that 18 foreigners were arrested over the alleged possession of PVCs in Oyo state in November 2022.
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