According to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), 184,438 permanent voter cards (PVC) have been printed for Edo state voters.
During a meeting with the resident electoral commissioners on Monday at the commission’s Abuja headquarters, INEC chairman Mahmood Yakubu made remarks.
Ahead of the governorship elections in Edo and Ondo, which are set for September 21 and November 16, respectively, INEC began the continuous voter registration (CVR) process again on May 27.
The commission decided to extend the deadline for the exercise until June 9 instead of June 5, as originally planned.
After the activity was over, INEC declared that 46,171 voters had moved their registration from one area of the state to another, 8,847 voters had changed their registration from another state to Edo, and 119,206 new voters had registered.
Yakubu stated during the meeting on Monday that INEC had restored 5,406 broken or missing PVCs and updated the records of 4,808 voters who had requested name, address, or date of birth corrections from earlier registrations.
“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 cards can be picked up from August 22 to August 26 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., every day including the weekend, according to the INEC chairman.
According to him, the procedure will be followed in all 192 of Edo’s wards where the previous CVR was held.
“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.”
