631,634 Voter Cards Not Collected in Ogun –REC

• 631,634 Voter Cards Not Collected in Ogun –REC

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ogun State, Prof. AbdulGaniy Raji, has said there are 631,634 uncollected Permanent Voter Cards in the state.

Raji, who noted that the state was ready for the elections, added that INEC was not happy with the number of uncollected PVCs.

He spoke on Friday during a press conference with journalists at the INEC head office at Magbon, Abeokuta.

He explained that the state had taken delivery of sensitive electoral materials.

He said, “We have 2,375,003 registered voters in Ogun State. As I speak, at the suspension of collection of Permanent Voter Cards on Monday, we have 631,634 voters that have yet to collect their PVCs. That is about a quarter of the registered voters. By implication, 75 per cent of voters have collected their PVCs.

“You may look at the number of unclaimed PVCs as high, but in terms of percentage, Ogun State fared better than other states. We are still not happy with the number of unclaimed PVCs, but we will continue the distribution after the elections.”

Raji said the commission was collaborating with security agencies to ensure the protection of sensitive electoral materials in remote areas.

He explained that specialised ballot papers for the blind, glasses and other aids for people with disabilities would also be made available for the elections.

Although the National Secretary of the Committee for the Defence of Human Right and leader of election observers in Ogun State, Yinka Folarin, acknowledged that the preparation was okay, he lamented the lack of accreditation kits for observers.

Folarin, who said residents were eager to vote, stressed that observers were denied access to the essential kits.