PROSPECTIVE VOTERS IN IKWO EBONYI STATE CALL FOR RELEASE OF THEIR PVCs

Some prospective voters in Ikwo Local Government Area of Ebonyi State have called on the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC to release their permanent voter cards to enable them to exercise their franchise in the General Election.

They made the call following allegations that their cards were not yet available because a hard disk containing their data was alleged to be missing.

During last Continuous Voter Registration, INEC in Ebonyi State designated some institutions with appreciable number of busy prospective voters as special centres.

The institutions included Universities, Colleges, Mechanic Village Abakaliki, Kpirikpiri, Markets and Timber Shade.

Several months after participating in the registration exercise, some of the prospective voters said they were yet to collect their PVCs.

One of them, Mrs Alice Ogodo said she was told at INEC office in Ikwo Local Government Area that her name was not in the Voter Register as well as in the data base.

Another prospective voter, Miss Nnediya Ogbuagu alleged that an INEC Staff at PVC’s collection centre in Ikwo Local Government told her that a hard disk containing their data could not be traced.

A prospective voter who pleaded anonymity expressed shock over claims that INEC‘s data base containing his name was missing and threatened to explore legal options if the commission failed to produce his PVC before next month’s election.

When contacted, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the State, Professor Godswill Obioma refuted the allegation that INEC lost a hard disk containing names of voters in Ikwo Local Government Area.

He explained that INEC had a special timetable for the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards to those whose data were captured at special centres.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner said INEC would also take PVC distribution to ward level for collection.

AMECHI ODO