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Imo INEC records 2.2 million registered voters, 640, 000 unclaimed PVCs

By Lawrence Njoku (Enugu), Charles Ogugbuaja (Owerri) and Rauf Oyewole (Bauchi)
16 January 2019   |   3:39 am
As the general elections draw nearer, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo State, says 2.27 million voters registered for the exercise of which 640, 000 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still unclaimed. Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Francis Chukwuemeka Ezeonu, who disclosed this yesterday while briefing religious leaders on the commission’s preparedness for…

[File] PVC

As the general elections draw nearer, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo State, says 2.27 million voters registered for the exercise of which 640, 000 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) are still unclaimed.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Professor Francis Chukwuemeka Ezeonu, who disclosed this yesterday while briefing religious leaders on the commission’s preparedness for the elections, said INEC would partner with all stakeholders before, during and after the polls.

He said the commission created 4,523 polling units and 4,752 voting points at the 654 autonomous communities in the 305 wards of the 27 local government areas of the state.

Ezeonu disclosed that to ease the elections and not allow politicians to hijack the process, the commission shifted the collation centres and created 105 Registration Area Centres (RAGs), where materials would be kept before the polls, adding that collation of results are done at local levels.

He said four INEC officials with armed personnel would be deployed to each, adding that the commission has received non-sensitive materials for the exercise.

Ezeonu added that after February 8, all uncollected PVCs would be seized, adding that they would only be released to their owners after the elections.

Nwoha Yusuf Chinedozi and Reverend Father Innocent Osuagwo, who spoke for the Muslim and Catholic communities, urged free, fair polls and called for greater awareness of INEC’s activities, insisting that the fake observers and problems of smart card readers be addressed.

Also, INEC said it has recruited 22,561 ad-hoc staff for the 2019 general elections across the 20 local government areas of Bauchi State.

Bauchi REC, Ibrahim Abdullahi, announced that the commission was 80 per cent prepared for the exercise.

Meanwhile, Enugu REC, Emeka Ononamadu yesterday disclosed that the commission would require 18,000 ad-hoc workers to effectively prosecute the 2019 general elections in the state.

Ononamadu said at a meeting with traditional rulers and stakeholders in Enugu that about 383,281 permanent voter cards were yet to be collected in the state, stressing that efforts were being made to reduce the figure before the elections.

He told stakeholders that the state recorded 1,942,776 registered voters after cleaning up of the 2019 voters in the 2,558 polling units in 260 registration areas, adding that with the development, there would be 4,146 voting locations comprising 2,958 polling units and 1,188 voting points.

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