Dr Mutiu Agboke, Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), on Sunday took the sensitisation of the electorate on the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) to a church in Ibadan.

Mr Agboke had led the INEC management team to the Oyo Province 14 of the Redeemed Christian Church of God, Elelu in Alakia area of Ibadan.

According to him, the step is part of the efforts to ensure that all electorate, who are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs), do so before the 2023 general elections.

Addressing the congregation, Mr Agboke said that the development of the nation’s electoral processes should be a collective responsibility of every citizen.

“Voting during an election to elect the nation’s political officers is the civic responsibility of eligible Nigerians and the only thing that qualifies the electorate to vote during election is the PVC.

“So, I enjoined those that registered for PVCs, but have yet to collect them, should, as a matter of importance, visit INEC offices in their respective local government areas to collect the cards,” he said.

The REC announced that not less than 700,000 PVCs were still in the custody of the commission in the state.

He said that the figures were enough to give a candidate a victory in an election.

Mr Agboke, acknowledging the effective roles played by religious bodies toward the success of the 2019 general elections in the state, urged the religious leaders to prevail on their respective congregations to collect their PVCs.

He also urged those having issues as regard the transfer of PVCs from one location to another and defaced PVCs to make use of the remaining period of the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration (CVR) to perfect their registration.

Mr Agboke reminded the congregation that the fourth quarter of the CVR was expected to end on June 30.

The REC assured all the state residents that their votes would count during the forthcoming general elections, promising that no candidate would emerge winner of any election without scoring a majority of the people’s votes.

He urged Nigerians to continue to trust in the ability of INEC to conduct transparent, credible and acceptable elections.

Commenting, the Presiding Pastor of the church, Dayo Akinrinde, thanked INEC for the sensitisation, noting that election processes in Nigeria should not be left in the hands of politicians alone.

Mr Akinrinde promised to support all activities of the commission aiming at ensuring successful conduct of the 2023 general elections.

The Administrative Secretary of INEC in Oyo, Abiodun Amosun; Head of ICT and Voters Registration Unit, Wunmi Balogun and Head of Voters Education and Publicity, Rosemary Alaba-Adeniyi, were among the team that visited the church.

(NAN)