About 106 permanent voter cards (PVCs) have been retrieved from citizens of Niger Republic, Benin Republic and Ghana. residing in Kwara State, the state command of Immigration Services has revealed.
The state comptroller of NIS, Aminu Shamsuddin, on Monday, disclosed that some foreigners were caught in possession of the PVCs during the regular patrol within the Ilorin metropolis.
He said the NIS has sensitised all foreigners on the rules and regulations surrounding the elections and educated them on the punishment that awaits violators.
“During one of the sensitisation talks, the foreigners were scared to hear that anybody caught participating in any way during Nigeria elections would be jailed, repatriated and blacklisted,” he said.
“Some of the foreigners who had Nigerian PVCs willingly dropped their cards and travelled back to their various countries, to return after the whole election.
“Most of the foreigners involved in the act were youths, both males and females.
“They claimed that their landlords in their various residents encouraged them to get the PVCs and vote during election so as to increase the number of votes for their various candidates.”
In November 2022, 18 foreigners were nabbed over the alleged possession of PVCs in Oyo state.
The NIS comptroller in the state, Isah Dansuleiman, said the foreigners were arrested during a raid carried out in October.
