The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) would be burnt before the 2019 general elections. The new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, Dr Rufus Akeju, stated this on Monday in Akure while briefing newsmen.
He lamented that despite ongoing sensitization efforts by the Commission on the need for collection of the PVCs, thousands of the cards have remained unclaimed. He said the Commission was considering burning the cards in order not to allow desperate politicians use same to commit electoral fraud.
He explained that the burning process would be made public with all party representatives in attendance. Akeju said that a total number of 1,659,186 are eligible voters and 1,288,722 cards had been distributed so far, adding that 370,464 are unclaimed. He also assured that the commission was doing everything possible to ensure a credible election that would meet with global best practices.
“We now have new and improve data capturing for moderate and effective capturing. We have introduced additional card readers in case one is malfunctioning in a particular unit,’’ he added.
