February 9, 2018

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ondo State has said that 371,444 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be collected in the state.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Dr Rufus Akeju, said this in a telephone interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Akure on Friday.

Akeju, however, said that 44,410 voters were captured during the April, 2017 Continuous Voter Registration in the state.

He said that 199 people reported that their cards were stolen during the first phase of 2018 revision exercise while 561 people were cases of de-faced PVCs.

The REC reiterated his readiness to work with relevant stakeholders to ensure free, fair and credible elections in the state in 2019.

He urged the residents to pick their PVCs at INEC offices in the 18 local government areas.

Akeju said the CVR was ongoing and advised residents who just attained the age of 18 to register to enable them to vote in the coming elections.

“We will do everything possible to ensure that 80 per cent of the uncollected PVCs were collected by their owners.

Akeju was the immediate past Oyo State Resident Electoral Commissioner and resumed as Ondo REC on Jan. 25.