The General elections are coming in February 2019, but we know the only way to make our voices count, is to vote.

And the only we way to vote is to get a Permanent Voter’s Card (PVC).

We know how to get PVCs, but we thought, wouldn’t it be awesome to actually show everyone how our PVC experiences went?

“Hey guys, if you don’t have a PVC, don’t come to the office. Register to get your PVCs, and work remotely.”

That’s Tomiwa, our Captain and Chief Patriot. He already had his, so he just Situation Roomed us from the office. A bunch of people on the team were on the hustle; Bankole, Toketemu, Folarin, Sade, Lanre, Sudeen. So, how did the exercise go?

Time: 8:36am

Sudeen: “I’m at the INEC Office already. Got here before 8am sharp. My number is 96. This is Sudeen, reporting from INEC office in Iyana Ipaja, Lagos.” Sade: Jesus. I guess I’m screwed. Tomiwa Aladekomo: Content people, why is Sudeen, our Finance Manager outshining you in documentation of your experiences? Where’s everyone else? Still in bed? Toketemu: We’re on our way!

What’s your struggle?

Fu’ad: I registered in Rivers State in 2011 and I’m not sure if I threw away my TVC or lost it. Apparently, I need to go and print my INEC details online first. So I’m somewhere trying to get it printed now. And I’m in Surulere. Toketemu: Folarin and I are lost here. False stop. Fu’ad: Lmao. I was there about an hour ago. There’s a designated INEC LGA office. It’s in Small London. (You can check the INEC office address in your LGA here.)

Time: 11.40am

Toketemu: This is Toke reporting live from Small London. For the record, Folarin and I walked from Masha to Small London. True patriotism right here. Sade: Almost at Small London too. Tomiwa: How’s it going? Toketemu: There are about three lists and our names are on the third list but the officials are almost halfway through the first. The crowd doesn’t seem large, but apparently, there’s about 170 people on the lists. They’re on number 46 now. And they close at 3pm. (INEC announced new timelines for registration) Toketemu: Officers in uniform get preferential treatment. Ayoola: Elderly people too.

Time: 12:10pm.

Sudeen: It’s my turn now. I got my form now, about 4 hours later. Those of us with TVCs have different forms. They’ve been following the process since, not taking bribes. Fu’ad: The process is a little broken. There’s a Telemundo element to my situation. I have no TVC, but I have my Voter Identification Number. To get a new TVC, I have to go to the Local Government I registered, but then I want to transfer. And I need a TVC to transfer. So, I’m just going to go back to INEC and cry. Toketemu: Still here, waiting. They are still on the first list. This isn’t looking very likely. Sudeen: Hey Fu’ad, don’t worry, it’s easy. Just go to the INEC website. As long as you’ve registered before, all you need to find your V.I.N is the state where you registered and your Date of Birth. Tomiwa: I never changed my voting location, meaning that I spend every Election Day in the first place I registered, my parent’s. If there are easier locations to register in, might make sense to just hang with a friend or something on Election Day and use one of those. Lanre: My case seems slightly easy. Lost my PVC so I simply need to do a printout of my previous PVC registration. And then get a police report and affidavit. Bankole: Why is everyone in Lekki trying to register at the same goddamn place? Makes no sense. Lanre: It’s the only location in Eti-Osa Local Government.

Time: 1:43pm

Sudeen: I’m done. I managed to get my wife to come along. Another girl came here, she’ll be 18 next week. They told her to come back only after she’s clocked 18. She also has to come back with her birth certificate. Toketemu: It’s a bust here, told us to come back tomorrow morning the only chance you have is to come first thing in the morning. Then we thought if we got our names on the list today we’ll be attended to first in the morning but apparently, the rule here is new day new list. The process is way slower than I thought.

Time: 2.29pm

Fu’ad: Come back by the end of the year to get your PVC Bankole: Hustle Toketemu: Oh wow Tomiwa: Nice. Did they give you the TVC as well? Fu’ad: I have no need for it. My Voter information is online (without the photo). I printed it and gave them. This slip is all I need to show up with year-end to collect my PVC, according to the INEC official here. I noticed it’s a very “Internet-friendly” process here. People who are transferring and don’t need new TVCs can just go online. But then again, maybe that’s my INEC place. Bankole: THAT IS NOT WHAT HAPPENED AT MY PLACE. They acted like they were doing people a favour. I mean, these people were like “we’ll attend to only 100 people today” Fu’ad: Well, maybe that’s the number they might have the range for? I think it’s a general design problem with the process, and the people at the INEC office doing the registering are on the receiving end. I went in the morning and they were polite. I went in the afternoon, and they were cranky. Tomiwa: I’m surprised Internet Cafe businesses haven’t sprung up to help people with this. Guess people don’t want to pay money to vote. Bankole: They shouldn’t. And if you’re having obvious capacity problems, like only one registration point for a bigass LGA like Eti Osa, shouldn’t more be opened? Tomiwa: Sudeen and his family are the winners of today’s sprint. Where’s Pepo and Eniola though?

Eniola:

The most important hacks you need to know: Find the closest INEC office to you and go there early, before 8am preferably. Go with valid documents if need be, Most importantly, for a more detailed walkthrough, visit getyourpvc.com, and in 5 minutes, it’s totally okay if you call yourself a PVC expert.

If you’ve already registered to get your PVC, tell us, how did your experience go?