73 percent Nigerians now have PVCs, says INEC

May create special polling units for IDPs if insurgency persists

ABOUT 73 per cent of the total number of Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) have so far been distributed to their owners by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), officials have said.

Collection rate was 69.68 per cent last week.

Fielding questions on the status of collection by registered voters in an exclusive telephone interview with The Guardian in Abuja Monday, the Chief Press Secretary to the Chairman of the Commission, Kayode Idowu, explained that the percentage of collection has risen to 73 per cent as at Friday last week

Idowu also dismissed the fears that the IDPs centers scattered in Borno among others and providing accommodation for victims who had registered and duly issued with voters’ cards may be disenfranchised, owing to the menace of insurgency in the North East and other troubled areas in the country.

He gave indication that INEC was working towards accommodating the registered voters who are unfortunately under the category of IDPs on account of insurgency in some parts of the country as well as address the fear of safety for its officials during the election.

Specifically, the CPS said the commission plans to recreate special polling units in newly created constituencies specifically dedicated to accommodate the Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs), in the event that the IDPs scattered in centers in the north east among others cannot return to their bases before the forthcoming general elections on account of insurgency in their original constituencies.

“What the commission plans is that in areas where IDPs are built because of the challenge of insurgency and there is high risk, the commission will recreate a separate constituency in a safe area to accommodate those who are affected by the current insurgency in that constituency.

“And then all the polling units in that area will be in these constituencies that have been recreated and everybody from that constituency will come to these new constituencies to cast their votes,” Idowu said.