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…as elections will not hold in 28 polling units
From George Onyejiuwa,Owerri
The Resident Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission( INEC) in Imo state, Prof Slyvia Uchenna Agu has said that the electoral Umpire has successfully distributed the permanent Voter cards in the state ahead of the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly polls .
She also disclosed that elections will not hold in 28 polling units across 12 local governments in Imo state which is part of the 240 polling units as a result zero registrations in 28 states .
Prof Agu said that on election day that voters who wish to observe after having cast their votes are only allowed to stay 300 metres away from the voting arena to witness the vote sorting and counting at their designated polling units .
She said the state office has received all non sensitive materials and already distributed to its offices across the 27 LGAs, and that the training for its ad hoc staff have been concluded .
The Imo REC who disclosed this on Wednesday during a breakfast meeting with Journalists said that the Electoral Commission has successfully distributed the Permanent Voter Cards not only in Imo state but across the federation, although , she pointed that there are still large number uncollected PVCs in the commissions ‘s offices across the 27 Council areas of the state.
Prof Agu said , “The Commission has successfully concluded the distribution of Permanent Voters Cards (PVC), not just in Imo State but nationwide. However, the Commission still has uncollected PVCs piled in each of the twenty seven (27) LGAs of the State.
As we all know, the Presidential/ National Assembly Elections shall hold next Saturday, 25th February, 2023. The Commission has outlined the voting procedure as follows:
Polls shall open at 8:30 am and end at 2:30 pm, but if there’s any eligible voter on the queue at 2:30pm, such shall be attended to before polls would be closed at that polling centre. “
Continuing, “An eligible voter is expected to present his/ her PVC for accreditation using the BVAS.
The Poll official is expected to check and be sure that the name of the voter is in the Voters’ Register for the Polling Unit.
The voter gets authenticated with the BVAS through finger print or facials. When the voter has been accredited, he/ she is issued with a ballot paper. The voter goes to the voting cubicle to make a choice in secret and drop the marked ballot paper in a ballot box.
Due to zero (0) registrations in two hundred and forty (240) Polling Units across the Country, voting will not take place in those Polling Units. The affected local governments in Imo are Aboh Mbaise (4), Ezinihitte Mbaise (1), Ideato North (2), Isiala Mbano (1), Isu (1), Njaba (1), Ohaji/Egbema (5), Orlu (5), Orsu (7), Oru East (6), Owerri North (3) and Owerri Municipal (1).” She stated.
