The National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) have asked President Muhammadu Buhari to temporarily shut down all tertiary institutions until after the February 25 and March 11 elections. The association stressed that the shutdown would allow students to obtain their PVCs.

“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, the office of the NANS vice president (external affairs) calls 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,” said Akinteye Babatunde, NANS vice-president said in a statement issued on Sunday.

On Saturday, INEC extended the deadline for collecting the PVCs until February 5.

The NANS statement said 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.

“Now that we have registered for our PVCs and they have been processed, and our tertiary institutions are not considering academic breaks for students during the general elections, despite having knowledge that most students registered outside their campuses, to go and collect our PVCs and have the opportunity to vote,” noted the statement.

NANS further urged the Buhari regime to shut down all higher institutions in the country.

“This is why we are calling on the federal government of Nigeria to mandate the National Universities Commission (NUC), the National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), the National Commission for Colleges of Education (NCCE) through the federal ministry of education to shut down all tertiary institutions temporarily until after the general elections in order to allow the Nigerian students (who constitute 40.8 per cent of the newly registered voters across the 774 local government areas of Nigeria) have access to their PVCs and vote for the candidates of their choice in fulfilment of their civic responsibility as patriotic citizens of Nigeria,” the statement said.

While noting that the student body would not sit and watch the school management disenfranchise the students from participating in the national and state elections, NANS pleaded with INEC to make a “special arrangement” for students in higher institutions to get their PVCs.