January 10, (THEWILL) – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has commenced the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) ahead of the Area Council elections scheduled for February 12.
INEC’s National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Commission, Festus Okoye, said in Abuja at the weekend that, the Commission printed 39,208 new PVCs.
He said they would be distributed to registered voters, who participated in the recently-suspended Continuous Voter Registration Exercise (CVR) in the territory.
He also said the distribution would cover those, who requested for transfers, replacement of lost or damaged PVCs and update of voters’ records.
Okoye said the distribution of the cards began on Monday and would end on February 4, urging registered voters yet to collect their cards to do so.
“All those that participated in the CVR in the FCT are encouraged to collect their PVCs in the six Area Councils. We encourage those that registered previously and have not collected their PVCs to seize this opportunity and do so.
“Those that transferred their registration from one Area Council to the other or from other states to the FCT are encouraged to approach INEC Area Council offices to collect their cards. Those that applied for replacement of lost or damaged PVCs and update of voters records should do same”, he said.
Okoye, who recalled that 42,986 Nigerians completed their registration in the FCT, said after diligent verification and cleaning up of data, using the Commission’s Automatic Biometric Identification System, 14,665 multiple registrants were weeded out, leaving 28,321 valid registrants.
He said that the Commission might not extend the time provided for the collection of PVCs.
Elections for the chairmanship positions will be contested by 55 candidates (52 males and three females) while the Vice-Chairmanship elections have 47 males and eight females sponsored by 14 political parties.
The 363 candidates contesting for the Councillorship positions consisted of 332 males and 31 females.
It was leant that 473 candidates and their running mates were vying for the 68 elective positions.
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