PVC collection: INEC acknowledges challenges

As the deadline for the collection of Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) ended yesterday, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said that substantial registered voters had collected their PVCs.

The commission’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, told Daily Trust last night that INEC has done everything possible to ensure that Nigerians who registered during the continuous voters exercise collect their voters’ card.

“Recall that INEC had earlier set the 8th February as the deadline, but the commission really wanted people to collect their PVCs, we have to extend it till today (yesterday) being the 11th February. We believe that sufficient numbers of Nigerians have collected their PVCs. We also acknowledged that there were some challenges for the collection by some people.

“Since the collection cannot continue non-stop, we have to stop at this particular period to enable us focus principally and fundamentally on the February 16 Presidential and National Assembly elections and also to recall all uncollected PVCs, give account of them and deposit them with the Central Bank. We have done reasonably well, we still acknowledged that there were some challenges and the PVC collection will continue after the elections,” Okoye said.

He said, “By tomorrow (today), all local governments are expected to mop-up uncollected PVCs and forward them the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) and thereafter give us the number.

“We would then tell Nigerians the number of uncollected PVCs and deposit them in the Central Banks (offices) of each states of the federation. We urged Nigerians to bear with us as we have all we could to ensure that they collect their PVCs and immediately after the elections, the collection will resume.”