2019 election: 500,000 eligible voters yet to collect their PVC in Abia

The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in charge of Abia state, Dr. Joseph Iloh has revealed that, out of over 2 million registered voters in Abia, over five hundred thousand were yet to collect their Permanent Voters cards (PVCs)

The REC represented by the Head, Department of Voter Education and Publicity, Mr Achibie Godfrey, made the revelation during One-day conference organized by the Inter-Party Advisory Council(IPAC), Abia state chapter, ahead of the 2019 general elections, on Friday.

He reiterated the preparedness and commitment of the commission to conduct free, fair and credible elections.

“We have been in the process of training our ad-hoc staff that will be used for the forthcoming elections.

“Last week, we trained the security agents and next week, we will be on that of the Presiding Officers and Assistant Presiding officers to ensure that they are prepared and armed with the best information for the work ahead”.

He appealed to the Nigerian electorate to complement the efforts of the electoral umpire in ensuring that the elections were successfully conducted to reflect the wishes of the people.

Earlier in his speech, the Abia state chairman of IPAC, Reverend Augustine Ehiemere, called for more awareness and the commitment of Abians in the forthcoming election.

He called on the electorate to embrace the electoral process to ensure the best is gotten out of the elections.

Ehiemere explained that the conference was organized to help raise awareness and equip the citizenry on the importance of participating in the forthcoming 2019 general elections.

“The conference is to promote a level playing field that will allow citizens from all walks of life to engage in decision making process.

“Also, the conference is to ensure a sustainable and effective way that is free from political discrimination, intimidation and harassment; promote and build capacity of the Civil societies; sensitize and equip the electorate with a non-violent disposition, and approach that will discourage them from being used as tools for political crimes”.

AREWA.NG, reports the theme of the conference as, “Towards Evolving a Sustainable and Responsible leadership Culture in Abia,” which was attended by leaders of various political parties under the IPAC, and several civil society groups.