A governorship aspirant on the platform of the All Progressives Congress (APC), in Ebonyi State, Dr Paul Okorie, has described the low rate of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collection in the state as discouraging.
Okorie, who is also a former Commissioner of Environment under former Gov. Martin Elechi, spoke on Monday in Abakaliki, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Recall that the Ebonyi Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Prof. Godswill Obioma, had said that only 6025 PVCs, out of the over 77,000 PVCs of the 2017 Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) released by the electoral body for Ebonyi had so far been collected.
Okorie, however urged stakeholders, political parties, traditional rulers and community leaders to step up sensitisation efforts on the PVCs collection.
He explained that the voter cards remained the power available to the voters, adding that the clamour for change would remain a mirage if those who registered did not go and collect their voter cards to enable them vote.
“We who are stakeholders have a serious responsibility to sensitise the people on the need to go and collect their voter cards, while those who are yet to register should be encouraged to go and register.
“A prospective voter without his voter card is like a farmer going to farm without a farming implement; so we have a duty as a party, as stakeholders and as a people who are concerned with democracy to blossom in the country to sensitise the people.
“It is of utmost importance that all unclaimed PVCs are collected by their owners before the 2019 elections,’’ Okorie said.
