By: Mercy Peter
No fewer than 55,859 Permanent Voter Cards have been picked up in the last five days in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday.
This, the Commission said represents 62.2 per cent of the 89,777 available cards.
Ondo State residents are expected to go to the poll to elect their governor on November 16, 2024.
The collection of the PVC kicked off on October 17 to 21, 2024, in the 203 wards across the state.
INEC said collection will continue at the 18 Local Government Areas from 23rd October 2024.
IIn a statement on Tuesday, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, commended the rate of collection, saying highest percentage of PVCs collected in such a short period since the Continuous Voter Registration process was introduced in 2015.
He said: “Over a period of five days (17-21 October 2024), the Commission made the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Ondo State available for collection in all the 203 Wards across the State.
“The Commission is pleased to announce that at the end of the five-day period, 55,859 cards were personally collected by new registrants as well as applicants for transfer and replacement of lost or damaged cards as provided by law. This figure represents 62.2% of the 89,777 cards available for collection.
“This is the highest percentage of PVCs collected in five days in Ondo State since the Commission introduced the CVR in 2015.
“A detailed breakdown of the collection by Local Government Areas (LGAs) has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information.
“Meanwhile, the collection will resume in our 18 LGA offices in Ondo State from tomorrow Wednesday 23rd to Tuesday 29th October 2024 from 9.00am to 5.00pm daily (including the weekend). ”
The Commissioner appealed to the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person from the LGA offices.
He also reiterated the commission’s policy that no cards will be collected by proxy.
