Delta State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Independent Electoral Commission (INEC), Rev. Monday Udoh Tom, on Wednesday said that over 300, 000 Permanent Voters Cards ( PVCs) are lying in various INEC offices uncollected in the state.
Rev. Udoh Tom disclosed this during the inauguration of executive members of Delta state INEC Press Corp ( IPC) at the commission’s secretariat in Asaba, the state capital.
He said in ensuring that owners of the PVCs get their cards, the commission would embark on an aggressive mobilization of PVC collection and voting so as to sensitize Deltans on the need to take ownership of their cards.
While analysing the PVCs left in the various INEC offices across Delta state, the REC said there were over 244,715 uncollected PVCs from the 2019 general elections, adding that the commission had also in the past received about 69,946 PVCs for those who registered between June –December 2021 and 17,000 transfer PVCs.
According to him, by the end of November 2022, the commission would receive more PVCs of those who registered between January to July 2022, leading to an increase in the number of PVCs in their possession.
Revd. Udoh who expressed delight at the process through which the IPC exco members emerged, said the exco members emerged through democratic principles of free choice, devoid of acrimony and inconclusive election.
He said the emergence of the press corp in the state will lead to new level of cooperation and understanding between the commission and media which will hopefully lead to better information management, particularly in reporting with responsibility and not pandering to the whims and caprices of unscrupulous politicians.
He noted: “Let me also stress that in every relationship, even in marriages, partners are expected to be guided by a set of rules that will ultimately lead to peace , harmony and longevity of such relationship.
“On the part of the commission, we here are now committed to respecting the desires of the media to access information about activities of the commission in an open and timely manner, without undermining the commission’s rules and regulations, particularly as it relates to its communication policy”.
He urged the IPC members to join hands with the commission to ensure that owners of the Permanent Voters Cards (PVC) come forward to collect their cards.
He also requested the IPC members to engage the political parties who are the beneficiaries of the PVCs to be actively involved in encouraging and mobilizing their supporters to collect their PVCs.
He urged the newly inaugurated members of INEC Press Corp to partner with the commission in ensuring that registered voters obtain their PVCs, which is still on-going at the respective local government offices of INEC.
Earlier, the Head of Voters Education and Publicity Department, Mr. Bukola Ojeme, said the event was first of its kind in the state and that the IPC would form a very important body in value chain of information management as far as electoral process is concerned.
In his remark, the chairman of the newly inaugurated IPC, Olorogun Festus Ahon assured INEC that the team would diligently discharge their duties.
Highlight of the event was the swearing in of the executive members headed by Olorogun Festus Ahon, Vanguard reporter; Secretary, Oghenero Eghweree of Radio Nigeria; Public Relations Officer, Mr. Austin Oyibode, publisher and Editor in Chief of Emerald News, an online news platform and Treasurer, Mrs. lfeoma Okafor of the Nigeria Television Authority NTA.
