Resident Electoral Commissioner in Cross River State, Dr. Okey Ezeani, has disclosed that some Permanent Voters Cards meant for registered voters in the state were wrongly transported to Kebbi State, thereby giving an insight into one of the reasons why so many people were yet to collect their cards.
Although the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has consistently insisted that it was ready before the rescheduling of the February 14 general elections, about 30 percent ent of eligible voters would have been disenfranchised as they were unable to collect their cards and not for lack of trying.
Ezeani, who spoke in Calabar on Wednesday, when he paid courtesy visit on Governor Liyel Imoke to brief him on the level of preparedness of the Independent National Electoral Commission for the March 28 and April 11 rescheduled polls, said some PVCs belonging to the electorate in the state were recently found in a consignment sent to Kebbi State.
“My colleague in Kebbi called me and said that they found some boxes of PVCs belonging to Cross River State in Kebbi and there are similar cases regarding some states as well. These are some of the issues plaguing INEC,” he said.
According to him, the commission in the state is yet to take delivery of PVCs for some polling units in Yakurr, Calabar South, Calabar Municipality and Bakassi local government areas.
For him, the rescheduling of the polls was a blessing in disguise.
“The postponement of the elections is a plus because it will afford us ample time to fix some of the things we were not able to get right,” he said.
The REC said, “When I came to Cross River State, the percentage of collection was running between 60 and 73 percent and after meeting with my staff, we set out a target and today we have attained 82 percent distribution in the state.”
HE also used the opportunity of the visit to demonstrate to Imoke and members of the Cross River State Executive Council how the Card Reader works.
Gov Imoke, in his brief remarks, charged INEC to ensure 100 per cent distribution of PVCs in the state and the country as a whole before the elections so that no one was disenfranchised on the grounds of non-availability of PVCs.
Imoke said it was also obvious from the disclosures made by the REC that INEC was not ready for the earlier scheduled dates for the polls.
He said, “I thank you for the effort at improving on the number of PVCs collected in the state from 66 percent to 82 now, even though you must try and achieve 100 percent collection before the elections so as not to disenfranchise anybody.
“The constitution provides that every registered voter has the right to vote. It does not provide for the presentation of PVCs before exercising that right.
“So, we urge that you try as much as possible to achieve a 100 percent PVC distribution, otherwise, it will appear that INEC will be responsible for disenfranchising registered voters and this could have legal consequences and call to question the integrity of the process.”
INEc’s statement on Tuesday showed that the commission had distributed an additional seven million PVCs, bring the total to a little over 52 million. This means that close to 16 million cards were yet to be collected, and then largely by such tardiness ehibitej by INEC in the case of Cross River State.
