Over 2m PVCs awaiting collection in S’East — INEC

…Ohaneze, others kick

WITH just one month to D-Day in the 2023 general elections, over two million Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still uncollected in the five states of South East Geopolitical Zone.

  Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) disclosed this in media conference in Enugu, yesterday.

  Speaking during the session, INEC’s Head of Department for Voter Education and Publicity (VEP), Mr. Rex Achumie, said those who fail to collect their PVCs should not blame anyone if they do not come and collect them before the January 29 deadline.

  Giving a breakdown of the figure, Achime said that while 403,921 PVCs are still waiting for collection in Enugu State, 162, 629 are yet to be collected by registered voters in Anambra State.

  Achime also said that 207,000 PVCs have not been collected in Ebonyi State while 536, 338 are waiting for their owners in Abia State, adding that Imo State has 651, 551.

  “We have a total of 2, 003,921 cards left for collection in the five states of South East and I believe it will continue to reduce daily as residents of the state come for their PVCs daily. INEC is also praying that the massive number of people that came out to collect their PVCs within this window of PVCs collection, will actually come out to vote. INEC is once more assuring Nigerians and the good people of Enugu State that their votes will count. There is a whole lot of improvement in INEC, a new Electoral Act and the use of technology to ensure efficiency and that there is no human interference in the system,” he said.

  Reacting to the development, apex Igbo socio-cultural organisation, Ohanaeze Ndigbo Worldwide called on South East governors to declare public holidays in their states to enable people collect their PVCs before the deadline.

  Ohanaeze Ndigbo made the call in a release by its National Publicity Secretary, Dr. Alex