This was disclosed by the Resident Electoral Officer (REC) in Ondo State, Dr Rufus Akeju, who advised Nigerians to go to INEC offices to claim their PVCs before the elections next year.
While speaking to journalists in Akure on Monday, March 12, 2018, Dr Akeju said the commission is making relentless efforts to contact affected Nigerians to claim their voter’s card.
He revealed that if the cards remain unclaimed, the commission will be compelled to burn the cards to prevent unscrupulous elements from using them to commit electoral fraud.
Dr Akeju also expressed how worrisome it is to discover that there are hundreds of thousands of unclaimed PVCs in Ondo State alone.
He said, “Out of 1,659,186 registered voters in Ondo State, only 1,288,722 people have collected the PVCs while the remaining 370,464 have their voters’ cards uncollected.”
Even though he never revealed how close to the election the cards will have to be burnt, he said the burning process “would be made open for all Nigerians to witness.”
Dr Akeju also noted that INEC will investigate the reasons for the high number of unclaimed PVCs around the country.
While explaining the commission’s efforts towards conducting free, fair and credible elections in 2019, he said additional card readers have been provided “in case one is malfunctioning in a particular unit.”
1.4 million PVCs still uncollected in Lagos — INEC
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Lagos State on Tuesday said about 1.4 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) were still uncollected in the state.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Sam Olumekun, disclosed this to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Mr. Olumekun, who decried the apathy to the electoral processes, urged eligible residents to be involved in determining those that would represent them in government.
“The people’s power is their votes; they should use their votes to determine what they want.
“It is important for people to get involved. In Lagos, we have about 1.4 million PVCs uncollected, we encourage people to come and collect their PVCs.
“Wherever we are doing the ongoing Continuous Voters Registration now, these cards are there for their owners to pick them up.
“We are imploring all stakeholders in this business to educate and sensitise the people because it is important to get our democracy working.
“INEC has been deepening the process of democracy and it is the responsibility of the citizens to support INEC.
“Sensitisation, mobilisation and education is not the business of INEC alone, it is the business of every interest group for people to come out and perform their civic responsibility,” he said.