Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission, ( INEC) ProfessorMahmood Yakubu has said prospective voters who registered in the last Continous Voters Registration exercise conducted in Edo State could pick the Permanent Voters Cards ( PVCs) in all the 192 wards in the state, effective from Thursday.
Yakubu disclosed this on Monday at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja.
Giving the total estimate of 119,206 as new voters, Professor Yakubu who cautioned that no registrant would be allowed to collect the PVCs through proxy, also revealed that the soft copies of the final and comprehensive register of voters will be presented to each political party fielding candidates in the election tomorrow, in Benin City, Edo State capital.
He said: “For Edo, 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 who 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 voter 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. To ensure a seamless process, the cards will be available for collection in all 192 Wards in the State where the last CVR took place from Thursday22nd August 2024 to Monday 26th August 2024 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm daily including the weekend. Thereafter, the collection will continue in our 18 Local Government offices across the State from Wednesday 28th August 2024 to Sunday8th September 2024 from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm, including the weekends. Detailed information on the dates and locations of the 210 centres (192 Wards and 18 LGA offices) has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.
“Furthermore, 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. The register has also been uploaded to our website (https://inecnigeria.org/?page_id=13804) to facilitate easy identification and collection of the cards.
“It is important to emphasise that the Commission’s policy that PVCs must be personally collected by registered voters has not changed. The cards will not be distributed or collected by proxy so that they do not end up in the wrong hands. We urge voters who took their time to register during the CVR to also take time to collect their PVCs in person and, most importantly, to come out on Election Day and vote for the party of their choice.
“Still as part of our preparations for the Edo State Governorship election, the soft copy of the final and comprehensive register of voters will be presented to each political party fielding candidates in the election tomorrow Tuesday 20th August 2024 in our State office in Benin City. This is in fulfillment of item 10 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.”
Ahead of November governorship election in Ondo, the INEC Chairman assured the electorate in the South West state “that action is being taken in respect of the availability of their PVCs for the governorship election holding in November this year. Very soon, the Commission will make available detailed arrangement for the collection of PVCs for all categories of voters from the recent CVR in the State.”
