Edo guber: INEC prints new 184,438 PVCs

“Following the conclusion of the last Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in Edo and Ondo states, the commission published the figures of new registrants for the two States following the clean-up of the register.

For Edo State, 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 that 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 voters’ cards (PVCs),” Yakubu said.

He said that all the cards had been printed and delivered to INEC office in Benin City, from where they were handed over to Electoral Officers (EOs) for collection by voters.

The INEC boss said that to ensure a seamless process, the cards would be available for collection in all the 192 wards in the state where the last CVR took place, from Thursday, August 22, 2024 to Monday, August 26, 2024 from 9.00am to 5.00pm daily including the weekend.

He said that thereafter, the collection would continue in its 18 local government offices across the state from Wednesday, August 28, 2024 to Sunday, September 8, 2024 from 9.00am to 5.00pm, including the weekends.

He said, “Detailed information on the dates and location 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.”

Yakubu said that the commission’s policy that PVCs must be personally collected by registered voters had not changed, as the cards would 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,” he said.

Yakubu also said that as part of INECs preparations for the Edo State Governorship election, the softcopy of the final and comprehensive register of voters would be presented to each political party fielding candidates in the election on Tuesday, August 20, 2024 in its state office in Benin City, in fulfillment of item 10 of the Timetable and Schedule of Activities for the election.

Speaking on the PVCs collection for Ondo off-cycle governorship election, Yakubu said that the commission was working on the schedule for the collection of PVCs in the state.

He said the commission focused on Edo State at the moment because the election would be held next month.

He assured the electorate in Ondo State that action was being taken in respect of the availability of their PVCs for the governorship election in November 2024.

“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,” Yakubu said.