Airlifting, delivery of sensitive election material across the country underway – INEC

• 940,200 PVCs issued between June 2021 and July 2022 in Lagos • Praises Nigerians for behavior during PVC collection

Less than a month before the upcoming general election, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed that sensitive election materials are being distributed across the country.

This was announced on Friday by INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu during a meeting with the Resident Electoral Commissioners in Abuja.

According to Prof. Yakubu, the commission is finalizing its preparation, adding that the training of national and international observers, including the media, is being completed.

“I am pleased to report that the relocation of election materials to various locations across the country is being completed. The training of civil servants will start soon. Ongoing stakeholder consultations will be intensified. Airlifting and delivery of sensitive material to States of the Federation has gone a long way. Accreditation of national and international observers and the media is being finalized.

“Critical transport service providers have assured us of their commitment to efficient logistics for the movement of materials and personnel to different locations, while the security services have reaffirmed their readiness for the election,” he said.

Speaking further, the president of the country’s electoral body stated that the collection of permanent voter cards (PVCs) is still an issue that needs to be addressed, adding, however, that the committee is impressed by the attitude of registered voters towards compared to collecting their PVCs. that the Commission will respond to voters’ needs.

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“However, the Commission is aware that there are a few issues that need to be addressed. One of these is the continuous collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs). The Commission is encouraged by the determination of registered voters across the country to collect their PVCs and by the actual level of collection to date.

“For example, in Lagos State, which has the highest number of registered voters in the country, the Commission has issued 940,200 PVCs from the recent voter registration (June 2021 to July 2022) for both new registrants and card transfer and replacement requests. Since yesterday Thursday, January 26, 2023, 839,720 PVCs have been collected, representing 89.3% of the total. At this meeting with RECs, reports from other states of the Federation will be discussed and the Commission will not hesitate to consider additional measures to ensure that all citizens have adequate opportunity to collect their PVCs prior to the general election. We want to assure Nigerians that the Commission will always respond to voters’ needs.”

He added that INEC has received and tested the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines that will be used for the elections. voters”.