Former Anambra State governor, Peter Obi, has urged Nigerians to register and collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2027 general election.
Obi, who said with the PVC, Nigerians could make rigging difficult in the 2027 election, described the PVC as the most powerful tool to tackle bad leadership, saying the power to build a better Nigeria was in citizens’ hands.
The Labour Party (LP) presidential candidate in the 2023 election said this in a statement shared on X on Monday.
Obi, who also described PVC as “the voice of the voiceless”, enjoined Nigerians to cast their votes for leaders of competence, character, capacity, and compassion.
“The future of our dear nation is in your hands. The greatest strength of democracy is in the voter’s card. Your PVC is the voice of the voiceless, the shield of the weak, and the weapon of the poor for a better life, against injustice and bad leadership.
“I appeal to every Nigerian: Get organised and make election rigging difficult. Go out, register, collect your PVC, and hold it firmly as your bridge to a new Nigeria.
“Let us know this: those who buy votes are not offering you charity; they only invest in their own corruption. They buy votes so that they can buy their way into our treasury to steal public money.
“When they get into that office, they will loot the funds that should have been used to build schools, hospitals or provide good jobs. Such people are not leaders, they are criminals in disguise. They are no better than killers, armed robbers, and kidnappers, because they commit the same crime of destruction.”
Obi further warned Nigerians against vote selling, saying: “You are not just selling an election, you are selling the very opportunities that would have lifted you and your family out of poverty.
“You are selling the schools that your children should have attended, the hospitals that should save your loved ones and the jobs that would have given you dignity and a better life. Those who buy your vote are only buying it to make a profit from the seat of power, not to serve you.
“The power to change this country is in your hands, the looters will only loot when we give them the opportunity. Your vote counts, if it doesn’t, they would not be desperately buying that vote. Every Nigerian must rise and take responsibility for building the nation we dream of.
“Our democracy is at stake. That is why I urge every eligible Nigerian to register, collect, and safeguard your PVC, and when the time comes, use it wisely. Vote for leaders of competence, character, capacity, and compassion. Leaders who will put you first. Do not be intimidated, do not be deceived, and do not be bought.
“Let us stand together and prove that Nigeria belongs to the people, not to those who trade our future for their selfish gain. Register to vote, because a new Nigeria starts with you.”
Chuks Okocha
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