Osun Governorship Poll: 1.9m Voters Collect PVCs as INEC Distributes Sensitive Materials

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says 1,906,390 registered voters in Osun State have collected their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) ahead of Saturday’s governorship election, as the commission commenced distribution of sensitive election materials across the state.

INEC National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Mr Mohammed Haruna, disclosed that the number of collected PVCs represents 81.50 per cent of the 2,339,233 registered voters in the state.

According to him, 432,843 PVCs, representing 18.50 per cent of the total number of registered voters, remain uncollected.

Haruna said the uncollected PVCs had been safely deposited with the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), in line with the commission’s established practice.

He added that voters whose PVCs were damaged, defaced or lost had applied for replacements, with 6,101 voters obtaining printed downloadable copies of their PVCs.

The commission has also published on its website the number of PVCs collected in each polling unit.

Haruna reassured political parties, civil society organisations, the media and voters of INEC’s readiness to conduct a credible and transparent election.

Meanwhile, INEC on Thursday night commenced the distribution of sensitive materials to the 30 local government areas of Osun State.

The exercise was supervised by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mrs Oluwatoyin Babalola, at the premises of the CBN in Osogbo.

Distribution of the materials had earlier been delayed following a Federal High Court judgment directing INEC to include the Social Democratic Party (SDP) on the ballot.

Following the court order, the SDP was added to the list of 14 political parties for which ballot papers had initially been printed, requiring the commission to produce additional ballot papers and result sheets.

As of 11:30 p.m., buses conveying the election materials were leaving the CBN premises for their assigned local government areas.

Mr Umar Mohammed, Senior Programme Manager at Kimpat Development Initiative, described the arrival and distribution of the materials as encouraging, noting that there had been concerns that the court ruling could disrupt the election timetable or lead to a postponement.

He commended INEC for appearing to prioritise the distribution of materials to local government areas considered distant and difficult to access.

Mohammed, however, expressed concern that rainfall could affect the movement of election materials to their destinations.

The governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday across Osun State.