The Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday that the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards to new applicants across Edo State local government areas would begin today.
While asking applicants to come pick up their cards, the commission stated that they would not be released to third parties.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, said in a statement that the ward-level distribution had been completed, with 125,928 PVCs collected within five days.
He stated that the figure reflected 68.3% of the 184,438 new cards issued during the latest Continuous Voter Registration drive, the greatest collection rate recorded by INEC since the implementation of CVR ahead of off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
According to Olumekun, the collecting, which took place across all 192 wards in Edo State from August 22 to 26, was made possible by INEC’s meticulously orchestrated effort.
The commission attributed its achievement to the strategic packaging of PVCs by polling units, wards, and LGAs, as well as direct communication with voters regarding the availability of their cards.
“As previously announced by the commission, Permanent Voter Cards from the most recent Continuous Voter Registration in Edo State would be available for collecting at two levels. First, from Thursday, August 22, to Monday, August 26, 2024, all 192 wards will be covered. Second, in our 18 Local Government Area offices.
“The commission is glad to announce that the ward-level collecting has concluded. Following the lessons of the previous PVC collection, the commission meticulously packaged all PVCs by Poling Units, Wards, and LGAs. We also created the collection register, which included information on the voters whose cards were ready for collection, and posted it to our website.
“In addition, we contacted them using the addresses they supplied during registration. Voters collected 125,928 cards out of the 184,438 new PVCs available, accounting for 68.3% of the total. This is the greatest percentage of PVCs gathered in five days since the commission implemented the CVR for off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
“A detailed breakdown of the collection by LGAs has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information,” a portion of the statement said.
INEC declared that the collection process will now be moved to its 18 Local Government Area offices in Edo State, where voters can pick up their PVCs from August 28 to September 8, 2024.
The commission emphasized that PVCs must be collected in person, as no cards will be provided via proxy.
INEC has made specific information about the locations of its LGA offices available on its website, urging voters who have yet to acquire their PVCs to do so as soon as possible.
Olumekun remarked, “Meanwhile, collection will resume at our 18 LGA offices in Edo State tomorrow, Wednesday, August 28, 2024, and will end on Sunday, September 8, 2024.
“We encourage the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person at our LGA offices. The commission reiterates its policy that no cards would be gathered by proxy. Our website currently provides detailed information on the locations of our LGA offices.