Ahead of the Ondo governorship election, the Independent National Electoral Commission announced on Tuesday that 55,859 Permanent Voter Cards were collected in the state over a five-day period, representing 62.2 per cent of the 89,777 available cards.
The Ondo governorship election is scheduled for November 16, 2024.
The collection exercise, which ran from October 17 to 21, 2024, took place in all 203 wards across the state.
INEC, in a statement on Tuesday released by its National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, Sam Olumekun, noted that this was the highest percentage of PVCs collected in such a short period since the Continuous Voter Registration process was introduced in 2015.
“Over a period of five days (17-21 October 2024), the Commission made the Permanent Voter Cards from the last Continuous Voter Registration in Ondo State available for collection in all 203 wards across the state.
“The Commission is pleased to announce that at the end of the five-day period, 55,859 cards were personally collected by new registrants, as well as applicants for transfer and replacement of lost or damaged cards, as provided by law.
“This figure represents 62.2 per cent of the 89,777 cards available for collection. This is the highest percentage of PVCs collected in five days in Ondo State since the Commission introduced the CVR in 2015,” the statement read in part.
Furthermore, INEC has extended the collection exercise to its 18 LGA offices in Ondo State.
“Meanwhile, the collection will resume in our 18 LGA offices in Ondo State from Wednesday, 23 October, to Tuesday, 29 October 2024, from 9.00 am to 5.00 pm daily (including the weekend).
“Detailed information on the locations of our LGA offices in the state is already available on our website.
“We appeal to the remaining voters to pick up their PVCs in person from our LGA offices. The Commission reiterates its policy that no cards will be collected by proxy,” Olumekun added.
