The Independent Electoral Commission in Ebonyi State has raised the alarm over the increasing rate of apathy by residents on the state regarding the ongoing Permanent Voter Cards collection
exercise.
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Godswill Obioma, during an interactive session with the civil society in the state lamented the low turn-out of prospective voters to collect their PVCs.
Stating that the commission had recorded a staggering number of PVCs lying unclaimed in various local government areas of the state, the electoral umpire outlined the details to include; Afikpo North, 7, 391 uncollected PVC; Afikpo South, 7315; Abakaliki, 29,569; Ebonyi – 16,884; Ezza North 5283; Ezza South -5300; Izzi- 1,748; Ikwo -10,978; Ivo – 6,895; Ohazara – 4785; Ohaukwu, 9056; Onicha -7433;
Ishielu- 7849.
“All in all, a total number of one hundred and twenty thousand, four hundred and eighty six (120,486) unclaimed PVCs are in different local government areas of the state,” he said.
Obioma noted that in 2015 the commission recorded one million, one hundred and seventeen thousand, seven hundred and seventy registered voters, while in the last Continuous Voter Registration, the commission recorded three hundred and fifty seven thousand, six hundred and seventeen registered voters, bringing it to the total of one million four hundred and seventy five, three hundred and eighty seven (1,475,387) registered voters in the state.
He further appealed to stakeholders to sensitise the people on the need to get their PVCs, and sensitise the people against vote buying and selling.
He added that the scourge, which had eaten deep into the fabric of the society had become a phenomenon that must be killed.
The INEC REC noted that the improvement in the smartcard reader had filled the loophole in the election process, stating that the menace of ballot snatching was now a thing of the past.
Obioma said, “In 2015 there was a disarticulation between INEC and voting; in 2019, INEC has closed that dis- articulation
“Those of them trying to go and snatch ballot boxes, you are completely on your own. If you think you are going to snatch ballot box or machine, we have already captured the result. A lot of people are still wallowing in the obsolete memory of 2015, which some of us have discarded in the laboratory of wasted papers. It is no longer as it is. So, all those gimmick and vices that gave rise to all sorts of inappropriate activities, have disappeared now. We, INEC, my colleagues who are here, have sworn to do the right thing and we have started to do the right thing.”
