The Independent National Electoral
Commission (INEC) has disclosed that over
14,000 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) have
been snatched by hoodlums from its officials
during the collection exercise in Rivers State.
The state Resident Electoral Commissioner
(REC), Mrs Gesila Khan, disclosed this while
speaking with newsmen in Port Harcourt, on
Friday.
According to Khan, some of the cards were
stolen from collection centres in some local
government areas, where the PVCs were
deposited to enable the owners have easy
access to them.
While it would mean that the owners would
be disenfranchised, Khan expressed no panic,
as she noted that the stolen cards would be
useless. The card reader system would be
used to authenticate and verify the real owner
of the PVCs before they are allowed to vote.
Khan also disclosed that her office received
2,990,056 PVCs, out of which 1,869,379 had
been distributed to eligible voters in the state.
She assured that more than 50,000 additional
PVCs would be distributed two weeks before
the general election, adding that over 80
percent of the registered voters in the state
had so far collected their cards.
Khan also assured that the February elections
would be peaceful because of the existing
cooperation among INEC officials, police and
other security agencies in the state.