The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), on Thursday, announced that a total of 522,000 permanent voter cards (PVC) had yet to be collected in Edo.

INEC Head of Voter Education and Publicity, Timidi Wariowei, stated this during a town hall meeting on youth’s participation in elections.

The town hall meeting, organised by a non-governmental organisation (NGO), YES Project, was tagged: ‘Value Your Votes Najia.’

Mr Wariowei, said that the 522,000 uncollected PVCs comprised both the old and the new ones.

He noted that at the end of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise, a total of 419,000 PVCs, including transfers and information updates, were sent to the INEC office in the state.

“As at Feb. 1, out of the 419,000 PVCs, 299,000 had been collected, while a total of 120,000 are still uncollected.

“Also, about 402,000 old PVCs have yet to be collected in the state,” he said.

Mr Wariowei noted that when the distribution of the PVCs commenced, the daily collection was above 20,000, adding, however, that now, the daily collection had reduced to between 1,000 and 3,000 across the state.

He called on youth organisations and civil society organisations in the state to continue to sensitise residents on the need to collect their PVCs.

“It is the only means through which they can vote for their preferred candidates during forthcoming general elections,” he added.

Earlier, the Executive Director of YES Project, Oche Precious, in his address of welcome, said that the event was aimed at sensitising the youth on the need to come out en masse and cast their votes for their preferred candidates.

“This is the time to change the narrative by going out to cast our votes and decide the next leader that will pilot the affairs of our nation,” he said. 

(NAN)