The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has released 81,778 newly printed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) for collection in Anambra State ahead of its gubernatorial election that was scheduled for November 6.
The cards are for newly registered voters and those who applied for replacement or transfer of their cards.
The commission disclosed this in a statement titled ‘Update on Preparations For The Anambra State Governorship Election’ by Festus Okoye, the National Commissioner, and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee in Abuja on Tuesday, October 26, 2021.
According to Okoye in his statements, he said the new printed PVCs that were included, are for newly registered voters and those who applied for replacement or transfer of their cards in the state during the just concluded first phase of the Continuous Voters Registration in the state.
He said that the cards had been printed and would be delivered to the INEC office in Anambra State on Thursday.
The statement reads, “In our previous update, the Commission informed the public that a total of 138,802 Nigerians completed the registration in Anambra State.
“After a thorough cleaning up of the data, it was discovered that the number of multiple registrants was 62,698.
“Consequently, the number of valid registrants dropped to 76,104.
“During the same period, there were 5,674 requests for transfers, update of voter information, and replacement of lost or damaged cards, giving a cumulative total of 81,778 PVCs.
“These cards have been printed and will be delivered to our office in Anambra State on Thursday, October 28.
“The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Anambra State and his staff shall work out the most efficient means of ensuring that the voters concerned collect their PVCs in earnest.
“Fortunately, the Commission has the telephone numbers and e-mail addresses of all the new registrants. They will be contacted to make the collection seamless,” Okoye said.
The national commissioner said that the commission met on Tuesday to review preparations for the state governorship election including the submission of a list of polling agents by political parties.
“Section 45 of the Electoral Act 2010 (as amended) requires political parties participating in elections to submit the names and addresses of their polling agents, accompanied by two passport photographs and sample signatures of each polling agent to the commission at least 14 days before the date fixed for the election.
“The last date for the submission of such a list for the Anambra Governorship election was 21st October 2021.
“In line with the Commission’s avowed commitment to deepen the use of technology in elections, a dedicated portal was designed for political parties to upload the names and other details of their polling agents for polling units.
Okoye said that it also included all the three levels of collation (Registration Areas/Wards, Local Government Areas, and State collation).
“A detailed breakdown of the submissions by political parties has been uploaded to the Commission’s website and social media platforms for public information.”
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the released summary of polling unit agents released by INEC indicated that details of 6,068 agents were expected to be uploaded on the INEC dedicated portal from each of the 17 parties participating in the election.
The summary showed that the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA), Social Democratic Party (SDP), and Zenith Labour Party (ZLP) were the parties that uploaded details of their expected number of agents.
It showed that the All Progressives Congress (APC) uploaded details of its 6,012 agents, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) 6,003, Young Progressives Party (YPP) 6,071, and Action Alliance (AA) 6,067 while Boot Party (BP) did not upload any details.
Okoye assured the people of Anambra State of INEC’s determination to proceed with the conduct of the election.
The commissioner appealed to all the critical stakeholders and citizens in the state to cooperate with the commission for a successful exercise.
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