Hoodlums hijack 4,503 PVCs from INEC in Akwa Ibom State
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Austin Okojie, has announced the hijack of 4,503 Permanent Voter Cards (PVC) by hoodlums in five local government areas of Akwa Ibom State.
Okojie said this while addressing traditional rulers during a state summit on peaceful conduct of 2015 elections in Uyo on Tuesday, that of the 1,468,780 permanent voter cards sent to the state, 4,503 PVCs were snatched.
The local governments affected are Abak LGA which lost 664; Ikono, 96; Mkpat Enin, 208; Oruk Anam, 2333; and Ukanafun lost 1202.
He said: “We had a security issue where a total of 4,503 of the permanent voter cards were snatched during the exercise in five local government areas of Akwa Ibom State.”
Okojie, however, said that with the introduction of card readers to authenticate real owners of each voting card, the stolen card will not be useful during the elections.
He also revealed that 1,177,910 cards, representing 80% of the PVCs have been distributed, while 284,915 were yet to be claimed.
During the meeting, he also urged the traditional rulers to work with the commission to ensure free, fair, peaceful and credible elections and also to encourage the members of their communities to retrieve their cards before the elections.
