Permanent Voter Cards, Not Card Readers, Will Be Used for Ekiti, Osun Elections - INEC

SAN FRANCISCO, May 01, (THEWILL) â€' The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said on Thursday that Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will be used for the Ekiti State governorship election on June 21 and the Osun State governorship election on August 9, stressing: 'INEC will not deploy card readers for the governorship elections. Rather, the card readers will be used along with PVCs for the 2015 general election.'

A statement issued by Kayode Robert Idowu, the Chief Press Secretary to INEC Chairman, Professor Attahiru Jega, said 'This is to correct reports in some sections of the media on Thursday, May 1, 2014, that card readers will be deployed for the Ekiti and Osun governorship elections.'

The statement said the reports misrepresented the Acting INEC Chairman, Dr. Ishmael Igbani, as having said card readers will be deployed for the governorship elections.

'What the Acting Chairman said was that PVCs, and not Temporary Voter Cards (TVCs) that were issued in 2011 and during the recent Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) in the two states, will be used for the imminent governorship elections; while card readers will be deployed in 2015. This is in line with the Commission's programme to incrementally fortify the electoral process against age-long susceptibility to abuses.

'PVCs were distributed simultaneously in Ekiti and Osun states from Friday, 7th March, 2014 to Sunday, 9th March, 2014, preparatory to the governorship elections. CVR was also conducted in the two states from Wednesday, 12th March, 2014 to Monday, 17th March, 2014.

'The use of PVCs for Ekiti and Osun governorship elections will ensure that all duly registered persons, whose names are on the biometric register and for whom PVCs have been produced, will be able to exercise their franchise in the imminent elections. The CVR was an opportunity for eligible persons who were previously not on the biometric register to get their data captured, and their PVCs will shortly be produced,' it stated.

INEC therefore called on registered voters in the two states, who are yet to collect their Permanent Voter Cards, to go to the respective Local Government office of the Commission and do so 'because Temporary Voter Cards will not be used for the elections.'