By Lukman Olabiyi
Lagos State Government has declared four work-free days for entire members of the state’s workforce, in batches, to enable them to join other residents in the ongoing voter registration exercise and secure their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), ahead of the 2023 General Election.
The State Head of Service (HoS), Hakeem Muri-Okunola, disclosed this in a statement made available to newsmen in Lagos, saying that the four days, commencing from Tuesday and lasting till Friday had been carefully planned to ensure that none of its staff would have reasons not to have completed the exercise within the window provided by the government and the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
“Consequently, it is notified for general information that all public servants who are yet to register or collect their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from designated INEC Centers are advised to do so before the deadline date of 30th July 2022.
“To this end, Mr Governor has graciously approved a work-free day for public servants to enable them to process/collect their PVC from their respective Local Governments/Local Council Development Areas. Officers are expected to return to work with their Voters Cards after this exercise,” the statement read.
According to him, different categories of public servants have been fixed to different dates within the window to ensure that governance does not shut down completely across the state, saying the move by the state government was to ensure that workers were encouraged to perform their civil rights.
The government, in the statement released on Monday, stressed that staff on Grade Levels 01, 03, 07, and 15 would take their turn on Tuesday, 26th July, while Grade Levels 02, 04, 08 and 13 would go for theirs on Wednesday 27th July.
Also, it noted that Thursday 28th July had been reserved for staff on Grade Levels 05, 09, 12, and 17 while staff on Grade Levels 06, 10, 14, and 16 would register on Friday, July 29th.
It would be recalled that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) a few days ago disclosed that only seven million Lagos residents have registered for PVC.