Voters in Ondo continue to troop to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Akure as distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) begins.

INEC had earlier announced that it fixed December 12, 2022, to January 22, 2023, for the collection of PVCs ahead of the 2023 general election. 

Peoples Gazette observed that residents of Ondo State came out on Tuesday to pick up their PVCs in anticipation of exercising their franchise next year. 

Our reporter who visited the INEC office at Akure South LGA of the state noticed the potential voters in a queue waiting to collect their cards. 

Some of them told The Gazette that they are ready to cast their votes in next year’s presidential and national assembly elections. 

81-year-old Francis Babarinsa, who visited INEC office, said he would be voting in the 2023 polls. 

Mr Babarinsa disclosed that he and his wife including his daughter were promptly given attention due to his age. 

He said he relocated from Zaria in Kaduna to register in Ondo in preparation for the election. 

“But when they search for my bio-data which I did in Zaria, it could not be found on the data bank,” Mr Babarinsa added. 

He said that he and his family had to do “another registration in Akure” in anticipation to cast their vote. 

“Now, it has been confirmed and we were asked to come for the PVCs in January.”

Positing further, Mr Babarinsa said that he made up his mind to vote in the 2023 election due to the current socio-economic decadence in the country.

Blaming the situation on poor leadership, he said the Nigerian system needed a democratic revolution that would take the country out of the woods.

“So, we have to all come out and vote. No sitting on the fence this time around,” Mr Babarinsa said. 

Another resident, Kehinde Adeboboye, lamented that he and other potential voters who came to collect their PVCs at the INEC office spent too much time in the queue.

He also blamed the situation on inadequate number of officials attending to them at the point of collection. 

He suggested that the distribution of the PVCs should be taken to the ward level to make it easier and save people a lot of money spent on transport fares.

“I have spent over 3 hours here waiting to collect my PVC due to the crowd and few officials attending to us.

“I will suggest that INEC should take the PVCs to the wards after all there are collation centres at the ward level,” Mr Adeboboye said.

Aliu Omobolanle, who was also at the INEC office, lamented that the process was too slow, saying she spent over five hours waiting in the queue to collect her PVC.

He noted that the process of collection could discourage many people from coming to pick up their PVCs.

Rufus Akeju, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo, said the staff of the electoral body have been fully trained on how to address the challenges facing the potential voters in the process of collecting their PVCs.

INEC had declared that over 93.5 million Nigerians are eligible to participate in the exercise as voters. 

In October, the electoral umpire had also announced that 12.29 million Nigerians successfully completed their registration as new voters in the just concluded Continuous Voter Registration CVR.