A report by Vanguard has revealed that a staggering 4,175,006 registered voters are yet to collect their Permanent Voters Cards. The report revealed these voters in 10 states will not vote in the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections because they were not able to collect their Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs from the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, before the February 5 deadline ended.

Among the 10 states whose data on the number of PVCs collected and unclaimed were ready at the weekend, Lagos came tops with 928,951 unclaimed PVCs. Lagos is followed by Oyo, which has about 800,000 uncollected PVCs; Kano (468,314), and Ogun (412,086). The rest are Osun (391,145); Niger (353,344); Ondo (303,955); Kwara (218,078); Plateau (184,744) and Cross River (114,389).

In Lagos, the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Olusegun Agbaje, said 6,708, 451 about 87/87 per cent of the 7,637,402 registered voters collected their PVCs in the state. This leaves 928,951 about 12.16 per cent registrants who were unable to collect their PVCs.

A breakdown of the figures according to a document obtained from the commission’s office in Lagos, shows:

*Old PVCs received – 6,570,291

*Old PVCs collected – 5, 747,651

*Uncollected old PVCs – 822,640 (12.52%)

*New PVCs received — 1,067,111

*New PVCs collected — 960,800 (90.04%)

*Uncollected new PVCs — 106,311 (9.96%)

*Total PVCs received — 7,637,402

*Total PVCs collected — 6,708,451 (87.87%)

*Overall uncollected PVCs — 928,951 (12.16%)

468,314 PVCs unclaimed in KanoIn Kano, a document from the INEC office showed that 468,314 registrants could not obtain their PVCs when the exercise ended on February 25 According to the document of the 399,856 unclaimed PVCs in 2019, only 28,077 have been collected leaving a balance of 371,779 unclaimed. During the 2021/2022 Continuous Voters Registration, CVR, exercise, 444,626 voters were listed of which 368,052 PVCs were distributed leaving 76,574 uncollected. In like manner, of 66,479 voters that did transfers, 19,951 could not pick up the cards while 46,518 people did.

391,145 voters disenfranchised in OsunIn Osun State, 1,955,657 persons registered as voters with the INEC but the number of PVCs collected as of February 5, 2023 is 1,564,512. This leaves 391,145 unpicked PVCs at the commission’s office in the state.

353,344 PVCs unpicked in NigerIn Niger State, 212,329 PVCs were collected while 87,329 remain uncollected for those registered during the CVR period. For the transfer of the voters cards, 69,009 were collected while 40,901were uncollected. The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niger State, Ahmed Yisua Ahmed, who disclosed this Vanguard said the total PVC from 2019 collected is 2,443,463 while 225,114 remain uncollected.

184,744 voters unlucky on the PlateauIn Plateau State, the breakdown of the PVC collection revealed that from the 2019 batch, 18, 466 PVCs were collected while 49,835 remains uncollected. In the 2021/2022 batch, there were 292,949 fresh registration out of which 211,123 PVCs representing 72% were collected while 81,826 remain uncollected. For those who did transfers, 242,600 PVCs were received out of which 189,517 representing 76% were collected while 53,083 remained uncollected.

The fate of 218,078 voters in KwaraIn Kwara, no fewer than 218,078 PVCs have not been collected just as 415,860 was collected recently Spokesman of INEC in the state, Ibrahim Bolaji, said 1,565,829 PVCs had been collected since 2019.

1,687,389 PVCs collected, 303,955 unclaimed in OndoIn Ondo, 1,687,389 PVCs have been collected while 303,955 are yet to be collected. Administrative Secretary of INEC, in the state, Oyelami Oyekola Oludayo, who confirmed this, said that “this is out of a total of 1,991,344 registered voters in the state.

114,389 PVCs uncollected in Cross RiverIn Cross River,the INEC disclosed that out of the 331,427 persons who registered since 2019 only 217,038 have collected their PVCsThe Commission’s Spokesperson, Mrs. Tonia Nwobi, said that 217, 038 PVCs have also been distributed out of 331,427 PVCs received.

She further gave the break down as follows: 2019 PVCs collected is 16,338 out of 97,318; 2021/2022 fresh registration PVCs collected is 200,700 out of 234,109 received; and 2021/2022 transferred PVCs collected is 42,186 out of 71,885 received.

800,000 PVCs unclaimed in OyoIn Oyo, the INEC said it was still compiling the list as of press time however, a source at the commission said about 800,000 PVCs have not been collected.

Over 400,000 PVCs yet to be collected in OgunIn Ogun State, the State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niyi Ijalaye, said: “A total of two million, six hundred and eighty-eight thousand (2,688,305) voters were registered in Ogun State, of which two million, two hundred and seventy-six thousand, two hundred and nineteen (2,276,219) PVCs were collected by their owners as at the end of the exercise on 5th February, 2023”.

He added that 412,086 PVCs have not been collected in the state.
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