The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to new applicants across Edo State will commence today, August 28, 2024, with a firm warning that no PVCs will be collected by proxy.
Sam Olumekun, INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education Committee, made this clear in a statement on Tuesday, emphasizing the importance of voters collecting their PVCs in person.
According to Olumekun, the recent distribution at the ward level was a major success, with 125,928 PVCs collected within just five days. This figure represents an impressive 68.3% of the 184,438 new PVCs issued during the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, marking the highest collection rate INEC has recorded since introducing the CVR ahead of off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
The collection, which took place across all 192 wards in Edo State between August 22 and 26, was meticulously coordinated by INEC. The commission attributed this success to its strategic approach, including the packaging of PVCs by polling units, wards, and local government areas (LGAs), as well as direct communication with voters about the availability of their cards.
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INEC has now moved the collection process to its 18 LGA offices in Edo State, where voters can collect their PVCs from August 28 to September 8, 2024. The commission has made detailed information about the locations of these LGA offices available on its website, urging voters who have not yet collected their PVCs to do so as soon as possible.
“We appeal to the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person from our LGA offices,” Olumekun stated, reiterating INEC’s strict policy against proxy collection. “Detailed information on the locations of our LGA offices is already available on our website.”
With the 2024 elections approaching, INEC is taking every measure to ensure a smooth and efficient process, encouraging all eligible voters in Edo State to collect their PVCs and participate in the upcoming electoral process.
