800,000 PVCs still uncollected in Oyo – REC 

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday alerted that 800,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) are still uncollected in Oyo state as at present.

Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Dr. Adeniran Tella raised the alarm at a  stakeholders’ meeting on Mock Voters’ accreditation and verification exercise held at the Commission’s office, Agodi  Ibadan.

Dr Tella pointed out that the purpose of the stakeholders gathering is to inform the general public on the proposed mock voters’ accreditation/verification exercise in twelve(12)  of the polling units in three of the Senatorial Districts of the state.

” As you are already aware, the commission has taken delivery of the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines for the election in the state. We have also tested each machine so as to ensure its functionality on election day”, he said.

The REC added, ” the essence of the mock exercise is therefore to conduct field tests across three Senatorial Districts in the state using twelve polling units at Oyo North, Oyo South, and Oyo Senatorial Districts of the state.” 

On the breakdown of the exercise, Dr Tella stressed, “the exercise is scheduled for Saturday 4th of February 2023 from 8am to 2:30pm accordingly in all affected LGAs and polling units in the state”.

The REC however appealed  to registered voters in the affected polling units to appear on the scheduled date with their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) for the mock exercise”, adding, “no doubt the exercise will help to reassure the general public of the robustness of our system and to further strengthen our processes ahead of the general election in the state.”

“It should be noted that at the end of the exercise the 12 BVAS machines involved will be reconfigured before they are deployed for the general elections in the state. The commission is fully ready for the coming election as series of training are being conducted and will yet be conducted for both staff and ad-hoc staff members in order to have a seamless election in the state.”