Four attacks on Imo INEC offices in three weeks, says Okoye

• Attacks won’t affect PVCs distribution, operations, says REC
• Decries non-collection of PVCs

Unidentified gunmen, on Tuesday, attacked the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Isu Council, Imo State.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye, disclosed this in a statement, yesterday.

Okoye said the attack was the fourth on INEC facilities in the state in less than three weeks, following previous attacks on Orlu and Oru West councils, as well as INEC state headquarters in Owerri.

Okoye said: “The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Prof. Sylvia Agu, has reported that our Isu Council office was attacked and vandalised. The incident occurred at the early hours of Tuesday.

“Eight windows were smashed, and burglary proofs removed.

“Fortunately, the attackers could not access the building. Movable and immovable equipment, as well as other materials were not removed or vandalised.

“However, as a precautionary measure, critical materials, such as ballot boxes and voting cubicles, have been evacuated to another INEC facility for safe keeping.

“Similarly, all uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have been secured, while security will be deployed to ensure continuous collection of voter cards by registered voters.

MEANWHILE, Agu has assured Imo electorate that recent attacks on the Commission’s facilities by hoodlums will not affect current distribution of PVCs, numbering about 452,221.

It was gathered that 300,000 uncollected voter cards had been in INEC’s vaults from previous distribution exercise. The updates indicate that the Commission recently took delivery of 85,729, while 56,492 cards were total transfers recorded and received, bringing a total of 142,221 and grand total of about 452,221 PVCs uncollected by registered voters in the 305 wards of the 27 councils of the state.

Delivering her speech, yesterday, during a stakeholders’ meeting, held in Owerri, Agu, a professor of public administration, lamented that despite high level of civil engagement she had with the management team, which was extended to monarchs, religious leaders, among other opinion and community leaders, the owners of the PVCs were unable to respond and collect them, stressing that she would not let out the cards by proxy, as it is against the law and policy of the Commission.

She said: “It is pertinent to mention that these attacks would not, in any way, distract the set electoral calendar of the Commission. We have gone to traditional rulers, churches and mosques to ask them to urge registered owners to come and collect their PVCs.”

For those who registered, but whose cards were not delivered, she directed Electoral Officers (EOs) in the 27 councils to give them incident forms.