Otuocha (Anambra), Jan. 22, 2015 (NAN) INEC in Anambra on Thursday said it has created desk offices in the 21 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of the state to accelerate the collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs).
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr Edwin Nwataralia, said this in Otuocha, in the Anambra East LGA during the stakeholders’ forum organised by INEC.
He said the initiative and the forum were necessitated by the poor attitude of the electorate in the state towards collecting their PVCs.
“This is a local arrangement to create PVC head desk offices, to solve our peculiar problem.
“It is an idea which was targeted at the officers reaching out to the electorate or the electorate knowing who to get first-hand information from concerning the PVCs collection.
“We have directed the Electoral Officers (EOs) to list the names of the unclaimed PVCs in their councils.
“They are also to encourage stakeholders to make photocopy and reach their relatives whom their PVC is still with the commission.
“The whole of these efforts were aimed at ensuring that the needed awareness is created as fast as possible. It is to prove the seriousness of INEC in conducting credible elections,’’ Nwataralia said.
The INEC official advised all stakeholders, especially the politicians, to work in synergy with the commission to create the desired awareness for registered voters to collect their PVCs.
He urged members of the electorate who registered in 2014 or did inter- or intra-transfer to hold on.
“We are awaiting directives on their PVCs, and this will be communicated to the commission as soon as it is ready,’’ Nwataralia said.
The REC reminded the EOs that collection of PVC must not be by proxy and warned them to keep to the dictates of the electoral laws in discharging their duties.
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He urged eligible voters to contact the Desk Officers to collect their PVCs, so as to enable them vote during the general elections.
Some stakeholders, Mr Onyebuchi Ezeaagbor and Mr Vincent Anyakora, who were among those who spoke at the occasion challenged the voters to collect their PVCs.
They promised to create the needed awareness on the issue.
Other stakeholders, namely Mr Chriskato Emeka and Mrs Agustina Ojukwu, urged INEC to guard against the late arrival of INEC staff and materials at various voting centres, among other problems.
Responding, the REC assured the stakeholders that INEC had improved on its operations and urged the voters to play their role by collecting their PVCs in readiness for the elections.
He directed EOs to return to their wards for the distribution of the PVCs daily, including Saturdays and Sundays, before the elections.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the event marked the end of the tour of the 21 LGAs by the REC.
During the tour, the council chairmen assured the INEC official of an improvement in the collection of PVCs before the elections on Feb.14.(NAN)