Of the more than 1.3 million permanent voter cards (PVCs) so far received by the Ondo State branch of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), only 858,040 have been delivered to registered voters in the state.
The information was provided yesterday by the Ondo State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Olusegun Agbaje, in Akure, the state capital, at a forum organized by the Ondo State Command of the Nigeria Police Force to meet with some stakeholders in preparation for the general election.
With the elections less than a month away, Mr. Agabje disclosed that 459,457 permanent voter cards were yet to be collected at the various offices of the commission across the 18 local government areas of the state.
The state’s PVC distribution represents 65.13 percent of the total population of eligible voters in the state. Close to 35 percent of eligible voters are yet to receive their cards, according to the figures released by Mr. Agbaje.
The high number of undistributed PVCs is a cause for concern since the state INEC has repeatedly stated that temporary voter cards (TVCs) would not be allowed in next month’s election.
Stressing that his commission was prepared for the elections, Mr. Agbaje stated that more than 12,000 ad-hoc staffers, including members of the National Youth Service Corps and students of higher institutions, would be deployed to help conduct elections in the state.
He added that 3,450 Smart Card Readers (SCRs) would be used in the elections to help authenticate the original ownership of PVCs.
Earlier, the State Commissioner of Police, Isaac Eke, told the gathering that the force would not tolerate the sponsoring of violence by any political parties. Mr. Eke asked leaders of all political parties in the state to counsel their candidates to observe the rules and principles guiding electoral campaigns, adding that anyone found engaging in violence would be dealt with.
He also assured that the police in the state would not be partial during or after the election, and urged voters and youths to conduct themselves well and resist being used by unscrupulous politicians during the elections.