Over 700,000 PVCs Are Uncollected In Oyo

Thousands of permanent voter cards (PVCs) have been left uncollected in Oyo State.

The Nation reports that over 700,000 permanent voter cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected in Oyo State.

Checks by The Nation at the state secretariat of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) showed that over 700,000 PVCs are waiting to be collected by owners at the offices of the commission across the 33 local governments.

Oyo State had 2,934,107 total registered voters as at 2019, with the list being updated yearly. The commission was yet to release the latest figures at press time.

An INEC official said the commission was still compiling figures from local governments to provide an accurate updated list of voters in the state.

Out of the above total, only 905,007, representing 30.8 per cent, participated in the last presidential election, while 940,211, representing 32 per cent, voted in the governorship poll.

With over seven million population, Oyo State is next to Lagos in voting strength in the Southwest.

The INEC official, who spoke in confidence, attributed the problem to nonchalant attitude of Nigerians to important documents.

The official said INEC had taken the cards to wards, to make collection easy for voters, but that Nigerians had not been showing interest.

The official said voters would only begin to rush when election was close or a deadline introduced, recalling that the state chapter of the commission experienced massive rush in PVC collection a few weeks to the 2019 general election.