INEC says 600,000 permanent voter cards yet to be claimed in Oyo

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said that about 600,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are yet to be claimed at its Oyo State office.

The state Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Mr. Mutiu Agboke, who disclosed this while sensitising religious leaders on the danger of not getting involved in the political process at a programme held at Christ Apostolic Church (CAC), Oke-Agbara Ashi, Ibadan, said if good people did not involve in the political process, the country would be deprived of good leaders.

He said: “We have been to the Ibadan Central Mosque. The churches and mosques are powerful pillars of religious activities in Nigeria. We are here to tell the church that you cannot stand aloof; you cannot sit on the fence.

INEC is doing continuous voters’ registration. INEC is creating awareness on its programmes. We are raising the level of consciousness. In Oyo State, we have over 600,000 unclaimed PVCs.”

Besides, he said religious leaders across the country and their followers should not see elections as business of the politicians alone.

He also advised those who have changed their locations to apply to the commission for transfer of their PVCs and not to register again.

Agboke, who insisted that contrary to insinuations, there is no record of under-aged voting in the INEC register, pledged to conduct free and fair elections in the state.

In a related vein, the Osun State Chapter of the Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN) has asked its members not to stand akimbo but to play active role in politics henceforth.

The association said the call became more imperative as the governorship election in Osun State slated for September this year and the 2019 general elections are near.

In a communique issued and signed by the state CAN Chairman, Rev. Fr. Michael Okodua and Strategic Committee Chairman, Rev. Jacob Asani, at the end of a one-day seminar organised for church leaders, Christian traditional rulers, Christian politicians, Christian non-governmental organisations (NGOs), journalists, lawyers and Christian political office seekers, among others, at the body’s secretariat, Owode-Ede, Osun State, the association noted that although CAN did not belong to any political party but being the salt and the light of the world, it is interested and will support emergence of God-fearing, courageous and effective leaders.

“Christians should see the noble art of politics as a sacred task,” it said.