The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Independent National Electoral Commission in Osun State, Dr Mutiu Agboke, on Saturday disclosed that 407,165 Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, are yet to be collected in the state.
He also said the state has received a total of 5,306 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines ahead of the 2023 general elections.
Speaking with journalists during a sensitisation campaign in collaboration with a non governmental organization, Power Of PVC, on need for PVC collection, in Osogbo, he said non collection of voters card is a big issue for the commission.
He said “Whether we like it or not in Nigeria today non collection of PVC is a big problem for INEC and unfortunately we have discovered that some individuals have gone ahead purchasing PVCs for the electorates.“So there is need for us to scale up the level of awareness for the people to go and collect it, for example when I resumed in Osun we have 408,197 PVCs and between December 12 and 17, only 1,032 PVCs have been collected.
“As I speak to you now, we have 407,165, waiting for collection. If we have over 400,000 PVC, and only 1,000 have been collected, it means we’ve not done anything, it means people have not really come out. So first thing we have to do is to scale up our the level of awareness.”
Meanwhile, Adegoke emphasised that the commission embarked on the awareness campaign to ensure that the masses realize the need to collect their PVCs.
Agboke while describing the readiness of the commission in the coming election said “we have received 5,306 BVAS, we are ready. We are charging, configurating, training our staffs and partnering with stakeholders daily. We have always been engaging our stakeholders”.The awareness rally started around 10a.m. from the state INEC Office at Osogbo -Gbongan road, marching through, Ola-Iya, Odi-Olowo, Isale-Osun, Oja-Oba, Freedom park, Oke-Fia and ended at the Commission office in Osogbo,
Converner, The PVC Ride, Akorede Balogun stressed the importance and need for the collection of PVC.
