There was disruption of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) collection in some parts of Ikpoba/Okha Local Government Area of Edo State on Saturday.
Gatekeepers News reports that the disturbances in Benin, the state capital and its environs started on Friday.
INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Edo, Timidi Wariowei has condemned the development, as well as threats to the lives of officials of the commission.
The statement read: “The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Edo State, has received reports of unruly incidents between yesterday (Friday) and today (Saturday), which degenerated to the disruption of the collection of PVCs and threat to officials and materials in the following Registration Areas (RAs)/Wards: “Ward 01 at Iwogban/Uteh; Ward 05 at St. Saviour’s School; Ward 07 at Ugbekun;Ward 06 at Maria Goretti College ; RA 09 at Obanyator, with Army Children’s School and Ogheghe health centres respectively, as the actual centres.
“In the meantime, INEC Edo State, has decided to move the collection centres for Ward 1 and Ward 9 to the INEC Local Council Office in Ikpoba Okha, while the staff earlier withdrawn from Ward 5, Ward 6 and Ward 7 are making their ways back to their collection centres to continue with the activity, on the assurances the Electoral Officer has received from the DSS of their presence in those locations. INEC has equally informed the Police Command about the situation.
“INEC wishes to remind citizens, especially community leaders, of the need to ensure the safety of INEC officials and materials, as deployed to the various communities to ensure that every voter collects their PVCs and are able to vote in the election.
“INEC wishes to stress again that collection of PVC can only be by the owners and not through proxy,” he said.
Meanwhile, the commission said 26,095 prospective voters had collected their PVCs between January 1 – January 7, 2023 ahead of the general elections.
