TheCable

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says more than 500,000 permanent voter cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected in Edo state.

NAN reports that Timidi Wariowei, INEC head of voter education and publicity, said this at a town hall meeting on youth participation in elections.

Wariowei said the uncollected PVCs included old and new ones.

“As at February 1, out of the 419,000 PVCs, 299,000 had been collected, while a total of 120,000 are still uncollected,” he said.

“Also, about 402,000 old PVCs are yet to be collected in the state.”

While noting that the PVC collection rate had dropped in recent times, Wariowei also said when the distribution commenced, the daily collection was above 20,000, but it has now reduced to between 1,000 and 3,000.

He called on youth organisations and civil society organisations (CSOs) to continue to sensitise residents on the need to collect their PVCs.

“It is the only means through which they can vote for their preferred candidates during the forthcoming general election,” he added.