EDO STATE: Lucky Obukohwo, Reporting
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) will, today, tender a soft-copy of the final and comprehensive register of voters to each political party that fielded candidates for the Edo State governorship election.
Commission’s Chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, disclosed this in his remarks at a meeting with Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in Abuja.
Yakubu equally appealed for patience to Ondo State electorate that action is being taken in respect of the availability of their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) ahead of the governorship election holding in November.
“It is important to emphasize 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.
“Still as part of our preparations for the Edo State governorship election, the soft-copy of the final and comprehensive register of voters will be presented to each political party fielding candidates in the election today in our state office in Benin.
“This is in fulfilment of item 10 of the timetable and schedule of activities for the election.
“The commission is working on the schedule for the collection of PVCs in Ondo State.
“Our attention is focused on the Edo State at the moment because the election is holding next month.
“I want to assure the electorate in Ondo State that action is being taken in respect of the availability of their PVCs for the governorship election holding in November.
“Very soon, the commission will make available detailed arrangement for the collection of PVCs for all categories of voters from the recent CVR in the state,” Mahmood said.
The electoral umpire boss who also gave update on the poll, said: “I am glad to report that all the cards have been printed and delivered to our office in Benin. From there, they have been handed over to our electoral officers (EOs) for collection by voters.
“To ensure a seamless process, the cards will be available for collection in all the 192 wards in the state where the last CVR took place from Thursday, August 22 to Monday, August 26 daily, including the weekends.
“Thereafter, the collection will continue in our 18 local government offices across the state from Wednesday, August 28 to Sunday, September 8, from 9.00am to 5.00pm, including the weekends,” Mahmood added.