Ahead of the September 21 governorship election in Edo State, the National Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that 373,030 Permanent Voters Card are yet to be collected by prospective voters in the state.
The INEC National Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof Rhoda Gumsus, disclosed this on Thursday during a stakeholders meeting on the Continuous Voters Registration (CRV)
Represented by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Anugbum Onuoha, Gamsus also disclosed that that the Continuous Voters Registration exercise would commence on May 27 and end on June 5, 2024.
“From the commission’s published statistics of registered voters, Edo State has 2,501,08 Permanent Voter’s Cards. The number of PVCs collected and uncollected were 2,128,288 and 373,030 respectively,” he said.
He explained that the meeting with election stakeholders was one of the critical factors for the success of electoral process in any election.
“The CRV is to enable those who have reached the age of 18 to register and carry our their civil responsibility, enable those who either want to transfer PVC to another location as well as those who have issues either with names or date of birth to correct on their PVC.”
He noted that in addition to the registration, uncollected permanent Voters’ cards (PVCs) would be made available for collection.
The national commissioner said the exercise would be conducted by INEC officials and corps members, warning that the commission would prosecute anyone who commits infractions during the exercise.
He appealed to the media, political parties, civil society organisations and other election stakeholders to help mobilise and sensitise prospective registrants to come out and register to enable them carry out their civic right in the forthcoming governorship election.
Stakholders present at the meeting included religious leaders, CSOs, chairmen of political parties, traditional rulers, among others.
