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100,000 PVCs ready for collection in Nasarawa, says REC

By Abel Abogonye (Lafia), Msugh Ityokura (Abuja) and Alemma-Ozioruva Aliu (Benin City)
22 May 2018   |   3:53 am
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said over 100,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were ready for collection in Nasarawa State.Its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Uthman Abdurahman Ajidagba, disclosed this at a ceremony to create awareness for their collection at the INEC Office in Lafia Local Council.

PVC

• INEC begins distribution of cards nationwide
• EU, electoral body seek more women participation in politics

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) yesterday said over 100,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were ready for collection in Nasarawa State.Its Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Uthman Abdurahman Ajidagba, disclosed this at a ceremony to create awareness for their collection at the INEC Office in Lafia Local Council.

Ajidagba said eligible voters who registered since 2017 should go to their local government areas with their temporary voter cards to collect their PVCs.He, however, said the number included those who transferred their cards to the state and urged eligible voters who have not registered or who misplaced their PVCs to visit the INEC registration centers across the state to do so.He also assured that the commission would ensure that all registered voters get their PVCs before next year’s general elections.

The commission also began the process of distributing the PVCs across the country yesterday.A statement from INEC headquarters in Abuja said its Head of Publicity, Lagos Office, Femi Akinbiyi, urged eligible voters to collect their cards.Akinbiyi hinted that the Lagos Office had concluded arrangements for the collection of the PVCs by Nigerians who registered between April and December 2017 in the state’s 20 local councils.

The Guardian learnt that the exercise would commence simultaneously in all INEC offices nationwide.According to the commission, the collection dates for those who registered in 2018 would be announced in due course.Meanwhile, in spite of increasing awareness and political participation among women, INEC and the European Union (EU) have lamented that women occupy only 5.8 per cent of political offices in the country.
 
The INEC and the EU through the European Centre for Electoral Support  (ECES), therefore, harped on the need for more women to participate in the voter registration and collection of PVCs for greater involvement in governance.
  
They took the position at a one-day South-South stakeholder’s workshop in Benin City, Edo State.In her paper titled: Enhancing Women’s Participation in the Continuous Voters Registration Exercise and Collection of PVC’s: The Role of Civil Society Organisations, INEC’s Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mrs. May Agbamuche-Mbu, said it was worrisome that women constitute 48 per cent of Nigeria’s voting population, but occupy only 5.8 per cent of political offices.
 
“Global statistics for gender parity indicate that in 2015, Nigeria ranked 152nd out of 188 in gender inequality human development index and 118 out of 192 countries,” she said.Senior Legal Expert of ECES, Maria Teresa Mauro, said the EU was working with INEC to encourage more women participation in political activities, noting that low women participation in politics was not peculiar to Nigeria but a global challenge.

  

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