INEC partners IPAC, religious leaders in distributing 89,563 uncollected PVCs

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has concluded arrangements with the Inter-Party Advisory Committee (IPAC) to ensure effective distribution of 89,563 uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Enugu State.

Dr Emeka Ononamadu, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Enugu on Saturday.

Ononamadu said that INEC had also started discussing with religious leaders on how they can be of help in mobilizing the people to collect their PVCs.

He noted that the new strategy would ensure that all the uncollected PVCs were distributed to their owners before the 2019 General Elections.

“We want to distribute the serial typed and photocopied names of all people who have not collected their PVCs at our local council offices and registration centres to the IPAC leadership.

“IPAC will then, make photocopy of same and give to their members, who are the various political party leaders.

“The political party leaders will take same photocopied list and distribute to their local government and ward chairmen, who will then remind the people whose cards are still with us in their localities to go to any INEC office and centres to collect their cards.

“The action is to remind the people, through person-to-person contact as well as native community and families information system, to come to our headquarters or registration centres close to them to pick up their PVCs personally,’’ he said.

Ononamadu said that INEC believed that a bottom-up strategy of distribution would enable the commission to reach out to those that have not collected their PVCs to come and collect them since the commission does not give PVC cards by proxy.

“So, anybody who did not collect his or her PVCs until a week to the 2019 general election, may be someone who did not present himself or herself for the collection in the first place since we don’t give out PVCs by proxy,’’ he added.

Ononamadu disclosed that Enugu State was fifth State in the country with the highest registration in the just-suspended CVR with 549, 326 new voters.

“This is an indication that so many Nigerians in Enugu State are now ready to participate in the 2019 general elections.

“If all the PVCs in the state are collected by their owners before a week to the election, a total of 1,961,586 will be going into the elections in the state,’’ he said.