The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said 55,859 voter cards were collected within just five days in preparation for the governorship election scheduled for November 16 in Ondo State.
In a statement released on Tuesday, Sam Olumekun, the National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee highlighted that these cards were collected by new registrants, as well as by individuals applying for transfers or replacements of lost or damaged cards, per legal provisions.
INEC said the impressive figure represents 62.2% of the total 89,777 voter cards available for collection.
INEC emphasised that this marks the highest percentage of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collected in five days in Ondo State since the Commission initiated the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) process in 2015.
“Over a period of five days (17-21 October 2024), the Commission made the Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from the last Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in Ondo State available for collection in all the 203 Wards across the State.
“The Commission is pleased to announce a detailed breakdown of the collection by Local Government Areas (LGAs) has been uploaded to our website and social media platforms for public information”, said INEC.
Additionally, the Commission announced that the collection process will resume at the 18 Local Government Area (LGA) offices across the state from October 23 to October 29, 2024.
The collection hours according to INEC will be daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM, including weekends.
“Detailed information on the locations of our LGA offices in the State is already available on our website. We appeal to the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person from our LGA offices. The Commission reiterates its policy that no cards will be collected by proxy.”
