Ahead of the upcoming Edo State governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 125,928 out of the 184,438 newly printed Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have been collected. This represents a collection rate of 68.3%, according to a statement released on Tuesday by INEC spokesman Sam Olumekun.
The collection took place over a five-day period, from August 22 to August 26, across all 192 wards in Edo State. This achievement marks the highest collection rate recorded by INEC since the introduction of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise for off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
Mr. Olumekun highlighted the commission’s meticulous efforts in organizing the PVC distribution. He noted that the PVCs were carefully packaged by polling units, wards, and local government areas (LGAs) to facilitate the process. Additionally, INEC produced a collection register, detailing the voters whose cards were ready for pickup, and uploaded this information to their official website.
A detailed breakdown of PVC collections by LGA has also been made available on INEC’s website and social media platforms for public access.
Looking ahead, the collection of PVCs will resume at all INEC offices across the 18 LGAs in Edo State from Wednesday, August 28, and will continue until September 8, 2024. Mr. Olumekun urged voters who have yet to collect their PVCs to visit the designated INEC offices.
He emphasized that no one is allowed to collect PVCs by proxy, reiterating INEC’s policy to ensure the integrity of the election process. Information on the locations of INEC offices across the LGAs has been provided on the commission’s website.
With the Edo governorship election scheduled for September 21, INEC’s successful distribution of PVCs is a critical step in ensuring that eligible voters can participate in the electoral process. The commission continues to encourage all registered voters to pick up their cards and be ready to cast their votes.
