As the governorship election is approaching in Ondo State, the Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday said it had suspended the registration of new voters ahead of the election.
The commission said a total of 372,888 Permanent Voter Cards were yet to be collected in the state.
The Resident Electoral Commission in the state, Dr Rufus Akeju, stated this during a stakeholders’ meeting held at the state headquarters of the commission, in Akure, the state capital.
At the meeting, the publication of “Notice of Election”, was extensively deliberated upon. The REC also said the preparation for the forthcoming governorship election was ongoing.
Akeju said there would be no Continuous Voters Registration and distribution of Permanent Voter Cards in the state again before the forthcoming governorship election.
He said, “It is extremely important for me to inform you that the commission has suspended the Continuous Voter Registration exercise and the implication is that, the window of opportunity for new registrants, distribution of Permanent Voter Cards, transfer of registration and replacement of lost or defaced PVCs have been shut for the meantime owing to the ravaging pandemic.”
Giving the breakdown, the REC said the number of registered voters in the state was 1,822 346 while “a total of 1,478,460 of PVCs have been collected and the number of uncollected PVCs is 372,888.”
Akeju also disclosed that the commission had produced a booklet containing operational guidelines for the conduct of the election in line with the current reality of COVID 19 pandemic ravaging the world.
Expressing assurance that the INEC would be fair as an unbiased umpire in the October poll, the REC noted that the security agents for the conduct of the election would undergo special training.
