The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bauchi State has disclosed that a total of 62,680 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) remained unclaimed, even as it said that as of 13th May 2022 it registered a total of 175,177 in the continuous voter registration in the state.
The disclosure was made by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Ibrahim Abdullahi, on Wednesday at a stakeholders engagement on election matters in the state held at the INEC office in Bauchi.
While calling on the electorate in the state to come out and collect the PVCs to enable them to participate in next year’s general election, the REC said if the owners of the unclaimed PVCs piling in the INEC office in the state refuse to come and collect them, the commission’s effort in producing them would amount to waste of efforts, resources and time.
Abdullahi further disclosed that so far, only a total of 6,000 PVCs had been distributed across the state and urged people of the state who had registered to go to the nearest INEC offices to confirm their status and collect their PVCs.
The REC, however, warned against double registration in the ongoing continuous voter registration.
Meanwhile, as political activities gear up towards the 2023 elections, Abdullahi warned political parties in the state to strictly adhere to the guidelines of internal democracy, saying that any defaulting parting will be excluded from the 2023 general election.
He informed that election guidelines, Electoral Act and other regulations had been issued to the parties for the 31 state constituencies, 12 federal constituencies, and three senatorial districts as well as one governorship seat in the state.
The REC informed that in order to make voting processes easier for voters, INEC had evolved some innovations, including face verification instead of thumb printing, saying that the innovations were meant to ensure no one, including people living with disabilities, was disenfranchised.
