Permanent Voters’ Cards: Oyo declares Friday public holiday
The Oyo State Government has declared Friday, August 15 public holiday in the state.
This was contained in a statement issued by the Special Adviser to the Governor on Media, Dr. Festus Adedayo in Ibadan on Wednesday.
According to the statement, the public holiday is to allow for massive turn-out of people for the collection of permanent voters’ cards which begins in the state on Friday.
Meanwhile, Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State has urged the people of the state to turn out en masse to obtain the permanent voters’ cards (PVCs) whose issuance begins on Friday, August 15, 2014 by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
While stressing the importance of collecting the PVC, he said that the cards would give them the ample opportunity to exercise their civic rights and choose people of their choice to represent them during the 2015 general elections.
“I like to inform the good people of Oyo State that it is very important for them, particularly those who had earlier registered and obtained the temporary voters’ cards, to collect the permanent ones. It is the opportunity they have not to disenfranchise themselves during the forthcoming general elections,’’ he said.
Governor Ajimobi also reminded them that if they failed to collect the cards, they might be preparing veritable grounds for unscrupulous elements and desperate politicians to tamper with the cards and use them to rig elections.
“Experience from the elections held in some states in recent times has shown the dangers inherent in failing to collect permanent voters’ cards. Such uncollected cards may find their ways into the hands of desperate politicians who are bent on winning elections through the back door. We should, therefore, ensure that we collect the cards in order not to give room for election rigging and manipulations,’’ he said.
The governor also enjoined the people not to engage in selling their voters’ cards for whatever reason, as this might deny them the opportunity of choosing the right people to lead them.
As for those who had yet to register, probably because they were not up to 18 years as at the last registration exercise or because they had just moved into the state, he said that they too would have the opportunity of doing so from August 20, 2014.
