The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday said 66.4 per cent of the Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) available for distribution have been collected in Gombe State.
Mr Umar Ibrahim, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Gombe, that 186,136 PVCs out of the 280,508 received by the commission had been collected by their owners.
“A total of 186,136 persons comprising 118,031 male (63.4 per cent) and 68,104 female (36.6 per cent) have collected their PVCs, leaving a balance of 94,372 PVCs that are yet to be collected by their owners.
“The major challenge that the commission is facing in the distribution of the cards is that people are not coming out to collect their PVCs despite the efforts made by the commission.
“Before, distributions were done at the 11 Local government offices in the state. Due to complaints that the points of collection are far, we distributed the cards to the 114 wards to address such complaints.
“We have carried out series of sensitisation which are still ongoing at market places and other social gatherings, just to encourage people to come for their PVCs. But they are not just coming out,’’ he said.
Reacting to complaints on missing PVCs, Ibrahim said: “We have received and assessed such complaints. In most cases, the complaint of not being able to collect cards is due to wrong location.
“Somebody that registered in Akko Local Government may go to Gombe Area Office to collect his or her PVC while such card is lying in another Local Government, which is the situation most times.”
Ibrahim, while appealing to the electorates in Gombe State to seize the opportunity to collect their cards, said collection of cards which resumed on Jan. 16 would end on Feb. 8.
He also appealed to the people to conduct themselves peacefully during the forthcoming elections, while assuring that the commission was committed to free, fair and credible elections. (NAN)