INEC: 184,438 PVCs printed for Edo guber poll — collection to begin Thursday

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has printed 184,438 permanent voter cards (PVC) for voters in Edo state.

Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, spoke on Monday during a meeting with the resident electoral commissioners at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.

On May 27, INEC resumed the continuous voter registration (CVR) exercise ahead of the Edo and Ondo governorship elections scheduled for September 21 and November 16 respectively.

The exercise was scheduled to end on June 5 but the commission extended the closing date to June 9.

Following the conclusion of the exercise, INEC announced that 119,206 new voters were registered; 8,847 voters transferred their registration from other states to Edo; while 46,171 voters transferred their registration from one part of the state to another.

Speaking at the meeting on Monday, Yakubu said INEC 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,” he said.

“I am glad to report that all the cards have been printed and delivered to our office in Benin city. From there, they have been handed over to our electoral officers (EOs) for collection by voters.”

The INEC chairman said the cards will be available for collection from August 22 to August 26 from 9am to 5pm daily including the weekend.

He said the process will take place in all the 192 wards in Edo where the last CVR took place.

“Thereafter, the collection will continue in our 18 LGA offices across the state from Wednesday 28th August 2024 to Sunday 8th September 2024 from 9am to 5pm, 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 to facilitate easy identification and collection of the cards.

“It is important to emphasise that the commission’s policy that PVCs must be personally collected by registered voters has not changed. The cards will 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.”