November 11: INEC Won’t Extend Deadline For PVC Collection – Commission Warns

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it will not extend the deadline for collecting Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) in Imo, Kogi, and Bayelsa States.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi, and the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Gabriel Longpet, have said the October 9, 2023 deadline issued by the commission won’t be extended in the three states ahead of the November 11 polls.

Naija News, however, gathered that the commission has lamented that there are still over 241,715 uncollected PVCs in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states.

Giving a breakdown, the commission said there are 107,715 uncollected cards in Kogi, while in Bayelsa, there are still 134,000 not collected yet.

INEC had fixed the governorship elections in the three states for November 11.

Oyekanmi noted that the ongoing PVC collection exercise was only for registered voters in the three states who could not collect their PVCs before suspending the activity on February 5, 2023, in the wake of the general election.

He told The Punch “The commission is not considering an extension of the PVC collection exercise at this point.

‘’Registered voters who are yet to collect their PVCs still have two weeks to do so. From our experience, more people tend to take action close to the deadline, which is not a good habit. It will exert much undue pressure on our state offices, which is also unfair. The earlier voters collect their PVCs, the better.”

Also, the Kogi State REC, Longpet, reiterated that INEC would not give any extension of the time earlier scheduled for the collection of the voter cards.

“There will not be any extension of time as we had said that the collection is for four weeks since it is not a nationwide exercise, and these are remnants of the cards previously provided for collection,’’ he explained.

On the number of PVCs collected so far, the REC said, “From the daily reports sent to me, so far, 11,307 PVCs have been collected up to the 21st of September, out of a total number of 119,022. We have two weeks to go.

“We have been broadcasting and urging people in the various local languages to go out and collect their PVCs. We have translated the jingles in Ebira, Igala, Okun, Nupe, and Hausa, in addition to English.”

On his own part, the Imo State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Sylvia Agu, disclosed that INEC resumed the issuance of PVCs on September 11 and has no plans for extension.

Agu stated, “INEC still has about 134,000 uncollected PVCs in Imo piled in the 27 local government council secretariats of the state.

“I urge Imo residents to collect their PVCs at the INEC offices in their council areas, while those in Orlu Local Government Area should collect theirs at the state office in Owerri.

“Apart from the 27 local government area offices, INEC has also created some centres for PVC collection for Registration Areas that have more than 1,000 uncollected PVCs. Remember that PVCs cannot be collected by proxy, and they must be exchanged with the Temporary Voter Cards.

“INEC has gone a step further to gather the phone numbers of owners of uncollected PVCs in Bayelsa, Imo, and Kogi to send bulk SMS to them.”