The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has expressed concerns over the large number of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Imo.
INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Imo, Prof. Sylvia Agu expressed the worry at a stakeholders’ meeting on Wednesday in Owerri.
Agu said the commission had received and started distribution of 152,221 PVCs from the new registrations between January and July, 2022.
“Imo has nearly 300,000 uncollected PVCs in the 27 Local Government Areas from previous Continuous Voter Register (CVR) exercise in 2011 to December 2022.
“We have recently received and started distributing 85,729 PVCs from new registrations, 66,492 updates and transfers done from January to July 2022,” she said.
Agu also expressed concerns over the frequent attacks on the commission’s facilities in Imo.
According to her, the commission has suffered three attacks at Orlu, Oru West and INEC state head office within a space of two weeks.
“These attacks are of a great concern to the commission, considering its negative consequences on the commission’s preparations for the 2023 general elections,” she noted.
However, the REC said the attacks would not in any way disrupt the set electoral calendar of the commission.
She commended security agencies for responding timely to the attacks saying: “if not, the damage on these offices would have been more extensive.”
