We have distributed 81% of PVCs – INEC -

- may extend PVC collection in Lagos, Ogun and Plateau states 

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, said 56, 350, 776 of the 68, 833, 476 Permanent Voter Cards, PVCs, meant for this year’s general election – 81.87 per cent of the cards – had been collected by their owners across the country.

The deadline for the collection of the permanent voter cards for this year’s general election is Sunday 22^nd March, 2015. Ahead of the deadline set by INEC, the commission said it had received the remaining voter cards meant for Lagos, Ogun, and Plateau states.

Chief Press Secretary to the INEC chairman, Kayode Idowu, said all the outstanding PVCs were received Thursday and had been distributed to the affected states, which were among states that had shortages.

But with respect to the latest date for the collection of the PVCs nationwide, it was learnt that there may be a further extension in Lagos, Ogun, and Plateau states to enable registered voters in the states to collect their cards.

Speaking on the conclusion of the PVCs distribution exercise, the National Publicity Secretary of the All Progressive Congress, APC, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, said at the weekend that the party was satisfied with the level of distribution ahead of the poll.

But a Peoples Democratic Party, PDP group, PDP Integrity Vanguard, frowned at what it called INEC’s insistence on the use of PVCs and Smart Card Readers for the election, reiterating the party’s indisposition to the use of the device.

In a statement by Senator Aniette Okon and Chief Sergeant Awuse, the group claimed that the resolve to use the electronic voter authentication device was an invitation to chaos and a recipe for anarchy during the elections.

INEC had admitted 41 per cent fingerprint failure during the card reader test run, but said it fully achieved the other three cardinal goals of voter authentication that had motivated the introduction of the PVC and card reader.

INEC plans to hold a stakeholders meeting with all the political parties, civil society groups, and other stakeholders on Tuesday, in a final discussion before the polls.

source: www.thisdaylive.com