Collect PVCs before January 31, INEC tells Nigerians

INEC Chairman, Prof. Attahiru Jega

The Independent National Electoral Commission has appealed to Nigerians to come forward and collect their Permanent Voter Cards.

The commission said many Nigerians who registered for the PVCs should collect the cards before January 31, 2015.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr. Kayode Idowu, told one of our correspondents on Friday in Abuja that the provisional figures released by the commission’s Voter Registry Department showed that as of January 7, 2015, INEC had received 54,341,610 PVCs of which it had distributed 38,774,219 nationwide and had a balance of 15,567,219 which had yet to be collected.

The percentage of PVCs distributed nationwide by the Commission as of Thursday had attained 71.35 per cent.

Idowu said, “Those who have registered are urged to visit their local government areas where they registered and collect their PVCs.

“They can do this till the end of January. The collection would enable them to vote in the forthcoming elections.”

He said the commission would publish the register of voters to be used to conduct the general elections on Tuesday.

According to him, the timetable and schedule of activities for the elections released to the public on January 24, 2014 shows under item 10 that the commission shall publish the official register of voters for the election on January 13, 2015.

Secretary to the Commission, Mrs. Augusta Ogakwu , said in Abuja on Friday that INEC had also ordered the decentralisation of the on-going distribution of PVCs to ward levels, in order to enhance access by persons yet to collect their cards. Before now, the distribution was done at the local government offices of the Commission since the end of distribution at the polling unit level. But distribution of the PVCs, according to INEC, will henceforth be at ward level nationwide.

The Commission, at its meeting on Thursday, January 8, 2015, resolved that the period for distribution of the cards should be extended.

“Registered voters who have yet to collect their cards can now do so from 8. 30 a.m. to 5.30 p.m. daily,” INEC said.