Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the dates for the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Edo State.
Gatekeepers News reports that the PVC collection, according to INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, will take place from August 22 to September 8, ahead of the September 21 Governorship Election.
Yakubu made this announcement on Monday in Abuja during a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs). He emphasized that only valid registrants will be issued their PVCs, and the Commission will not deal with proxies.
“Following the conclusion of the last Continuous Voters Registration CVR) in Edo and Ondo States, the Commission published the figures of new registrants for the two States following the clean-up of the register. For Edo State, 119,206 new voters were registered. In addition, 8,847 voters transferred their registration from other States of the Federation to Edo State while 46,171 voters transferred their registration within the State i.e. from one part of the State to another.
“As provided by law, the Commission has updated the records of 4,808 voters that applied for correction of names, addresses, or dates of birth from previous registrations and also replaced 5,406 lost or damaged PVCs. Put together, 184,438 voters of various categories were served by the Commission during the last CVR in Edo State. They will be issued new voters’ cards PVCs.
“I am glad to report that all the cards have been printed and delivered to our office in Benin City. From there, they have been handed over to our Electoral Officers (EOs) for collection by voters,” he said.
The INEC boss further stated that the Commission has developed a register containing, among other information, the names and photographs of the 184,438 voters to ease the collection of their PVCs.
According to Yakubu, the Commission is working on the schedule for the collection of PVCs in Ondo State.
“Our attention is focused on Edo State at the moment because the election is being held next month. I want to assure the electorate in Ondo State that action is being taken in respect of the availability of their PVCs for the governorship election held in November this year. Very soon, the Commission will make available detailed arrangements for the collection of PVCs for all categories of voters from the recent CVR in the State”, he stated.
