379,245 PVCs uncollected in Edo — INEC

379,245 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), representing 14.43 per cent, have yet to be collected by voters in Edo ahead of Saturday’s governorship poll in the state, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed on Tuesday.

The commission, however, disclosed that 2,249,780, representing 85.57 perc ent, have collected their PVCs as at the end of the extended period for PVC collection on Sunday, September 16, 2024.

National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, who disclosed this in a statement, recalled that the commission had announced that the total number of registered voters in Edo State is 2,629,025.

“Out of this figure, 2,249,780 (85.57%) have collected their Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) while 379,245 (14.43%) of the PVCs remain uncollected as at the end of the extended period for PVC collection on Sunday, 16th September 2024.

“There are 4,519 Polling Units in the State. Voting will take place in each unit. The detailed breakdown of the number of PVCs collected, as well as the number uncollected in each unit, has been uploaded to our website for the guidance of political parties, candidates, and public information,” he stated.

INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu, during the stakeholders’ meeting in Benin last week, said that plans have been made to mop up some of the uncollected Permanent Voter Cards across the 18 Local Government Areas of the state.

He added that the PVCs to be mopped up by the commission would be warehoused in the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) until after the Governorship election.