The Lagos State Government has announced work-free four days for civil servants in the state to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), following approval by the governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu.
A circular released Wednesday by Hakeem Muri-Okunola, Lagos State’s head of service, said the holiday will commence on Tuesday, January 24, and end on Friday, January 27, for different grade levels of workers.
“Consequent upon the extension of the collection of permanent voters cards by the Independent National Electoral Commission, it is hereby notified for the general information that all public servants who are yet to collect their permanent voter cards from designated INEC centers are encouraged to do so before Sunday, January 29, 2023, as it is a civic responsibility to vote.
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“To this end, Mr governor has graciously approved a work-free day to enable public servants to collect their PVCs from their respective local government/local council development areas as presented in the table below.
“The dates include Tuesday, January 24, 2023, for grade levels 01, 03, 07, and 15; Wednesday, January 25, 2023, for grade levels 02, 04, 08, and 13; Thursday, January 26, 2023, for grade levels 05, 09, 12, and 17; and Friday, January 27, 2023, for grade levels 06, 10, 14 and 16.
“Consequently, accounting officers and all public servants are to ensure compliance whilst giving this circular the service-wide publicity it deserves,” the circular reads.
The move follows the decision of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the window for PVC collection across the country. INEC had last week, announced the extension of the deadline for the PVC collection to January 29, adding eight days to the initial January 22 date.
Other states such as Borno, have earlier given work-free days to civil servants to collect their PVCs while the window for collection is still open.
INEC said it has become necessary to extend the deadline because of developments that have hampered the collection exercise.
“The Commission is determined to ensure that registered voters have ample opportunity to collect their PVCs ahead of the forthcoming election. For this reason, the timeframe for the collection of PVCs is extended by eight days.”
“Instead of ending on Sunday 22nd January 2023, the collection of PVCs will continue until Sunday 29th January 2023. At the moment, the period of collection is 9.00 am – 3.00 pm daily (including Saturdays and Sundays),” the Commission said.