INEC Request More Details Of Discovered PVCs In Anambra Forest

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has broken its silence over the alleged thousands of Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) found earlier the week in a forest in Anambra State.

The commission said more details would be needed from the people who reportedly discovered the PVCs to give legitimacy to their claims.

The INEC’s National Commissioner, Festus Okoye, as gathered by Naija News questioned the legitimacy of the claim, while calling on those surrounding the discovery to come and provide more information on where and how the said PVCs were found.

Naija News reported earlier the week that an unidentified Nigerian hunter has found thousands of PVCs in Anambra State.

It was gathered that a hunter was said to have discovered thousands of PVCs in a bush at Nnewi North Local Government Area, Anambra State.

The hunter took the PVCs to Authority FM radio station in the state and a staff seen in the video expressed displeasure over the development.

However, reacting viral video days after, Okoye, while speaking on Channels Television’s The 2023 Verdict on Friday explained that almost 99% of electorates in that area of the state have collected their PVCs.

He said the people that found the PVCs and the radio station it was allegedly displayed should be called the Department of Security Services (DSS) for more explanations.

The INEC commissioner who confirmed an investigation has commenced on the matter wondered why and how millions of PVCs can be found in a community with about 200,000 registered voters.

He however revealed necessary reports on the issue have been made.

Okoye submitted that “We are aware that there are some people and some forces that want to delegitimize this particular election. Now the total number of registered voters in that particular local government hovers around 250,000 but I watched that video and they were talking about millions of PVCs that were found.

“Incidentally, in that particular local government, we have almost over 99% of PVCs already collected. Now we have instructed our Resident Electoral Commissioner and Electoral Officer for that particular local government to make a report to the DSS and to the police.

“And then those people responsible for that particular incident must be invited, let them tell us where they found those PVCs, how they found those PVCs because we need to investigate and know whether the PVCs are from the Commission or whether some people cloned those PVCs in order to delegitimize the work of the Commission and also delegitimize the electoral process.

“So, if the PVCc were found in millions for a local government that registered just around 200,000 then some people have a question to answer, let those who found the PVCs and the radio station where those PVCs were displayed go to the DSS and police and make a report and if they don’t make that particular report.

“We have also instructed that the report should be made and they should be called in to come and account for how they found the PVCs because we have not heard of a situation where hunters are now hunting PVCs rather than hunting animals in the forest. So let them come and explain to us how they came about hunting PVCs in the forest.”