Gov Polls: INEC Distributes 2.4m PVCs In Bayelsa, Kogi

The Independent National Electoral Commission has said that it has so far distributed 2,485136 Permanent Voters’ Cards to the electorate in Bayelsa and Kogi States ahead of the November 16, Governorship Poll.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu disclosed this at a quarterly consultative meeting of the Commission with Civil Society Organisations in Abuja on Wednesday.

“A total of 889,308 PVCs were collected in Bayelsa, while 1,485,828 PVCs were collected by the electorate in Kogi as of September 30,” he said.

Yakubu said in Bayelsa, the number of PVCs collected represented 96.3 per cent of 923,182 registered voters in the state, while the number of uncollected PVCs stood at 33,874, representing 3.7 per cent.

He also said 1,485,828 PVCs were collected in Kogi, representing 90.2 per cent of 1,646,350 registered voters in the state, while 160,522 PVCs were still uncollected, representing 9.8 per cent of the registered voters.

“The commission will make available detailed figures of PVCs collected in each state by Local Government Areas (LGAs) and Registration Areas (RAs) as part of our continuing effort to deepen transparency and accountability.

“Copies will be made available at the commission stakeholders’ meetings in Yenagoa and Lokoja. The same information will also be uploaded on INEC website.

“Meanwhile, all uncollected PVCs have been retrieved from our LGA offices and would be deposited at the branches of the Central Bank of Nigeria in Bayelsa and Kogi for safekeeping, pending the resumption of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR),’’ he said.

Yakubu also disclosed that the commission has accredited 135 domestic observer groups and 16 foreign observer groups for the elections in the two states.

He said that while 67 domestic observer groups were accredited for Bayelsa, 68 were accredited for Kogi, and eight foreign observer groups for each of the states.

Source;(NAN)