Ahead of the Edo State governorship election slated for September 21, 2024, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Edo office yesterday disclosed that it would begin the distribution of about 373,030 uncollected permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) on May 27.
The state resident electoral commissioner (REC) Dr Anugbum Onuoha made this known during a stakeholders’ meeting in Benin on the forthcoming Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.
Onuoha stated that the PVC collection exercise would be done together with the Continuous Voters Registration exercise scheduled for May 27.
Speaking further, Onuoha said that the statistics of registered voters in Edo was 2,501,081, while collected PVCs were 2,128,288, and uncollected PVCs stood at 373,030.
He said that the CVR and the PVC collection would be a 10-day exercise, from May 27 to June 5, 2024, from 9 am to 3 pm daily including weekends.
The INEC REC explained that the exercise would be conducted in the 192 wards and the state headquarters of INEC in Edo.
He also disclosed that each registration centre would be managed by two officials drawn from the commission and the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC)
“In addition to the registration of voters, the commission will also make available the uncollected PVCs for collection during CVR.
“Also note that no PVC will be collected by proxy. Registered voters should come in person to collect their voter cards
“There will be no pre-registration option because of time constraints,” he said.
Onuoha, however, appealed for the support of the media, CSOs, traditional rulers, and religious leaders in encouraging voters to locate and pick up their PVCs.
According to him, the commission has published the final list of candidates for the Edo governorship election following the conclusion of political party primaries.
A deputy director of Voter Registry, INEC Abuja, Mrs Doris kande-Wyom, who took stakeholders through CVR processes, appealed to stakeholders to mobilise prospective registrants for the exercise.
