Nigeria, March 7 -- Despite the record number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collected ahead of this year's general elections, Nigeria recorded lower voters turnout in the February 23 presidential election, compared to that of 2015.

It was the climax of a trend that started in 2007 when voters turnout dropped almost 12 points to 57.4 per cent, compared to the figure for 2003.

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said 72,775,585 PVCs were collected by registered voters across the country for the 2019 elections.

Although the commission said it registered over 84 million voters, only those with PVCs are eligible to vote. The number of uncollected PVCs is 11,228,582.

In spite of the high number of collected PVCs, some st...