Follow Us on Google
- Says all non sensitive materials have been received
From George Onyejiuwa, Owerri
Ahead of the 11 November governorship polls in the state, the Imo state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof Sylvia Agu, has lamented that about one hundred and thirty- four thousand Permanent Voter’s Cards (PVCs) are still to be collected by their owners.
The State REC who disclosed this yesterday while briefing on the preparedness of the electoral body for the conduct of the Imo state governorship polls in 11November 2023.
Prof Agu ,appeals to registered Imolites to go to their various LGA INEC offices and other designated centres to collect their PVCs.
She disclosed that only registered voters from Orsu LGA will collect their’s at the INEC state office, because of the security situation of the area,but stated that PVCs will not be collected by proxy as they must be exchanged with the temporary voter’s cards.
The REC also disclosed that the Commission has gone a step further to send SMS to owners of the uncollected PVCs in; Imo, Kogi and Bayelsa States, where election will hold on November 11, even it has opened an online registration portal for adhoc staff recruitment, for interested persons to apply for the job of adhoc staff during the election.
According to the REC, Imo INEC is fully prepared to conduct a free and fair election, as all non sensitive materials have been received and will be distributed to the LGAs, even as all necessary trainings have either been concluded or ongoing.
“On the issue of security, we have been meeting with security agencies and they have been assuring us that they are going to provide watertight security, so there is nothing to fear”.
She re-emphasized on the voting procedure thus; “Polls shall open at 8:30am and end by 2:30pm, but if there is any voter already on cue by the time, the person will be attended to. Every voter is expected to present his or her voters’ card for accreditation, with the Bimodal Accreditation System BVAS.
“The poll official is expected to check and ensure that name of the voter is in the voter registration for the polling unit. When confirmed and fully accredited, the voter is issued a ballot paper. The voter goes to the voting cubicle to make his choice by thumbprinting, after which the voter drops the paper inside the ballot box.
“The voter is expected to stay 300 metres away from the voting area to witness vote sorting and counting,” the REC emphasized.
