Edo poll: 484,000 voters did not collect PVCs, says INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says at least 484,000 of the registered voters in Edo failed to collect their permanent voter cards (PVCs) ahead of the September 19 governorship election.

Of the 2.2 million registered voters in the state, INEC said only 1.72 million collected their PVCs.

This means that the 484,000 people who did not collect theirs are not eligible to vote.

The commission has not resumed the distribution of PVCs since the 2019 elections.

While there have been calls for uncollected PVCs to be distributed ahead of the September 19 election in Edo, INEC has often cited the coronavirus pandemic as a reason for not continuing with the exercise.

In an information booklet published on Thursday, INEC said there are 2,627 polling units across 192 wards where voting is expected to take place.

Of the 14 governorship candidates, 12 are male while two are female, with their average age as 50.