The picture of the distribution of the Permanent Voters Card (PVC) by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has remained abysmal just a little over two weeks before the February 14 presidential election.
INEC announced Tuesday it had distributed over 42.77 million Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) to eligible voters expected to vote in next month’s general election, which represents about 62.15 per cent of the PVCs distributed.
According to INEC, the total number of eligible registered voters for next month’s general election is put at over 68.8 million. This means that roughly 26 million Duly registered Nigerians are yet to collect thier PVC.
Also, the commission said it had distributed 145,000 card readers that are expected to be used in 119,973 polling units.
However, according to records from the commission, Abia State has distributed 1,020,997 (73 per cent); Adamawa: 1,239,820 (79 percent); Akwa Ibom: 1,328,714 (79.05); Anambra: 1,222, 002 (62.25)
Others are Bauchi: 1,745,441 (84.97); Bayelsa 386,125 (63.26); Benue- 1,132,187 (56.18); Borno: 999, 470 (56.18); Cross River: 776,977- (66.09)
Further more, Delta 1,422,595- (62.52); Ebonyi 714,351 (66.50); Edo: 1,046,960- (58.63); Ekiti: 492, 869 (67.33); Enugu: 738,933-(51.70); FCT: 459,913 (52.18); Gombe: 873,698 (78.0); Imo: 682,046- (37.24).
In Jigawa: 1,460,620 (79.76); Kaduna: 2,976,628 (87.36); Kano: 2, 612,400 (52.50); Katsina: 2,245,303 (79.40); Kebbi: 1,232,357 -(83.8); Kogi: 773,197- (57.24); Kwara 711,920 (62.33).
Lagos: 2,267,039 (38.39); Nasarawa: 850,619 (66.45); Niger: 1,250,379 (62.07); Ogun: 666,752 (36.4); Ondo: 824,715- (54.09)
Osun: 995,562 (70.75); Oyo: 1,156,593 (47.88); Plateau: 1,141,260 (57.01); Riverrs: 1,253,606 (49.40); Sokoto: 1,211,717 (75.17);
Taraba :1,079,383 (80.51); Yobe: 740,336 (67.31); Zamfara: 1,045,855 (69.92).
Also, in a bid to have a seamless transportation of personnel and election materials, the INEC has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW).
Prof. Attahiru Jega, INEC Chairman, and NURTW president, Najeem Yasin, signed the MoU in Abuja on Tuesday.
The agreement, according to Jega, is to ensure that logistic, issues which used to be the bane of the commission on election days are dealt with.
He stressed that the collaboration would surely add value to the electoral process.
According to him, the objective “is to ensure that men and materials arrive in time before the elections and also to ensure that men and materials return safely at the end of the election.”
The NURTW President, Yasin, in his remarks, assured INEC of the union’s readiness to partner the commission to ensure free, fair and credible elections next month.
He also assured the commission of the union’s neutrality, stressing that all those that would be involved in the transportation of men and materials would be apolitical.
He added that the union would do its best not to disappoint the commission and Nigerians as it would take the assignment as a national one.
