The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to temporarily shut down all tertiary institutions until after the elections.
The association stressed that the shutdown would allow students to obtain their PVCs.
The NANS vice-president, Akinteye Babatunde, revealed this in a statement issued on Sunday.
He said; “Subsequent to the extension of deadline for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) till Sunday, February 5, 2023, and considering the fact that the general elections will commence in few weeks’ time, we call on the federal government of Nigeria to immediately close all tertiary institutions temporarily to afford students the opportunity to collect their PVCs from their local government Areas and vote in the forthcoming elections.
“Now that we have registered for our PVCs and they have been processed, our tertiary institutions are not considering academic breaks for students during the general elections, despite having knowledge that most students registered outside their campuses.
“The lack of synergy between INEC and the management of tertiary institutions made it difficult and almost impossible for students to participate in the electoral process.”
The vice president added that the student body would not sit and watch the school management disenfranchise the students from participating in the elections, he pleaded with INEC to make a “special arrangement” for students in higher institutions to get their PVCs.
It is gathered that the Nigerian students constitute 40.8 per cent of the newly registered voters across the 774 local government areas of Nigeria.
