218,000 PVCs still not collected ahead of July 14 governorship election, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ekiti on Wednesday said that 218,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were yet to be collected in the state.

It said that this was in line with the provisions of the 1999 Constitution and the Electoral Law.

The INEC’s Public Relations Officer (PRO), Alhaji Taiwo Gbadegesin, disclosed this at a public enlightenment forum in Ado Ekiti.

He, however, said that not less than 500,000 PVCs had far been collected by their owners.

Gbadegesin advised those who were yet to pick their PVCs to do so, saying that they would be disenfranchised during the forthcoming election without the PVCs.

He said that the 500,000 PVCs already collected by would-be voters did not put an end to those that would be qualified to vote in July.

He said that the PVCs for those that registered between April 2017 and date were yet to be delivered to the state from its national headquarters in Abuja.

The INEC image-maker said that the cards would be distributed to their owners as soon as they were delivered to the Ekiti State office of INEC.

Gbadegesin said that university students and youth corps members, who had completed their stay in the state and had since left, might be those who had not collected their PVCs.

Alternatively, he said that the commission was also suspecting persons who might have done double registration.

They might be afraid that they could be arrested if they showed-up at the state office of INEC for collection, he said.

Gbadegesin said that the commission would still sensitise would-be voters ahead of the election.

The PRO also called on the various political parties to sensitize their followers and party members on the need for them to collect their PVCs.