132, 078 PVCs still unclaimed in Akwa Ibom

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Akwa Ibom, says some 132, 078 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have yet to be collected in the state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Mr Mike Igini, who disclosed this while addressing newsmen in Uyo on Monday, said the response of the electorate to the collection of their PVCs was poor.

The commissioner said that out of the 127,267 new PVCs received by the commission and distributed across the state, only 12,881 had been collected, leaving an outstanding of 114,386.

He explained that out of the 18,541 old PVCs received and distributed, only 849 had been collected, leaving an outstanding of 17,692.

“With respect to the level of Permanent Voter Card collection and registration exercise in Akwa Ibom State in particular, what I want you to know is that they are in two broad categories.

“We have the PVCs that we produced prior to the 2015 elections up to the time of the commencement of the new Continuous Voter Registration on April 27, 2017.

“For these Permanent Voter Cards of 2015 till date which we refer to as the old PVC, the level of turnout is very poor.

“In Akwa Ibom, we still have a total of 18,541 old permanent voter cards, out of which we have only distributed 849, leaving a total of 17,692 still uncollected,“he said.

Igini said that out of the new 127,267 PVCs, the commission has only distributed 12,881, leaving a total of 114,386 PVC uncollected.

The commissioner said that many people in Uyo, the state capital with the highest number of polling units, had yet to collect their PVCs.

He charged political parties in the state to mobililise the electorate to collect their PVCs from the INEC offices.

The REC said that the commission would not tolerate snatching of ballot boxes and ballot papers during elections, warning that elections in such places would be cancelled.