Edo 2024: INEC Seeks Personal Collection Of PVCs

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced the printing of 184,438 permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) for new registrants and other categories in Edo State.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, said this on Monday in Abuja at a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs), ahead of the forthcoming governorship election.

Osun Defender reports that INEC has scheduled the forthcoming Edo and Ondo States governorship elections for September 21 and November 16, 2024, respectively.

Yakubu said that the two governorship elections and seven bye-elections were the main focus of the meeting.

“Today’s meeting is coming close to two off-cycle governorship elections. As you are aware, the Edo and Ondo State governorship elections are around the corner. Furthermore, there are pending bye-elections to fill seven vacancies in the National and State Assemblies across six states of the federation.

READ: Edo/Ondo Polls: INEC Releases Voter Register

“Following the conclusion of the last Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) in Edo and Ondo states, the commission published the figures of new registrants for the two States following the clean-up of the register.

For Edo State, 119,206 new voters were registered. In addition, 8,847 voters transferred their registration from other states of the Federation to Edo State, while 46,171 voters transferred their registration within the state, i.e., from one part of the state to another.

“As provided by law, the commission 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 (PVCs),” Yakubu said.

He said that all the cards had been printed and delivered to the INEC office in Benin City, from where they were handed over to Electoral Officers (EOs) for collection by voters.

The INEC boss said that to ensure a seamless process, the cards would be available for collection in all 192 wards in the state where the last CVR took place, from Thursday, August 22, 2024, to Monday, August 26, 2024, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm daily, including the weekend.

He said that thereafter, the collection would continue in its 18 local government offices across the state from Wednesday, August 28, 2024, to Sunday, September 8, 2024, from 9.00 to 5.00 pm, 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 (https://inecnigeria.org/?page_id=13804) to facilitate easy identification and collection of the cards.”

Prof. Yakubu emphasized the importance of personal collection, stating that PVCs will not be distributed or collected by proxy. This measure ensures the cards 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,” he said.