Ahead of the Edo governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that 125,928 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) have been collected across the state within a five-day period.
According to official statements, this collection represents an impressive 68.3 percent of the 184,438 new cards issued during the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise. This high collection rate marks a significant achievement for INEC, being the highest recorded since the start of CVR for off-cycle governorship elections in 2015.
The collection occurred from August 22 to 26, 2024, in all 192 wards of Edo State, facilitated by INEC’s coordinated efforts. The commission attributed this success to the strategic organization of PVCs by polling units, wards, and Local Government Areas (LGAs), along with direct outreach to voters regarding the availability of their cards.
INEC confirmed the completion of the ward-level collection and indicated that information about voters whose cards were ready for collection was made accessible on their official communications.
From the initial 184,438 new PVCs, a total of 125,928 cards were successfully collected, achieving the highest percentage of PVCs collected within five days since the inception of the CVR for off-cycle elections.
The collection process will now shift to the 18 Local Government Area offices in Edo State, where voters can continue to pick up their PVCs from August 28 to September 8, 2024. Voters are required to collect their PVCs in person, as no proxy collections will be permitted.
INEC has made the locations of its LGA offices publicly available, urging voters who have yet to collect their PVCs to do so promptly. The commission emphasizes that personal collection is mandatory and encourages all eligible voters to take advantage of this opportunity.
