The Independent National Electoral Commission is considering burning unclaimed Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) before next year’s general elections.
The new Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ondo State, Dr. Rufus Akeju, told newsmen on Monday in Akure that INEC was considering the option, since all attempts to reach the affected voters had failed.
He said the commission had tried to reach the voters through sensitisation campaigns to no avail.
He said the commission was making efforts almost on daily basis for voters to get their PVCs, adding that the commission might be compelled to resort to burning of the cards or destroying them to check being used to manipulate elections.
The REC said that the burning process would be made public for all Nigerians to witness.
Akeju said in Ondo State, 1,659,186 people had been registered as eligible voters and 1,288,722 cards had been distributed so far.
He added that 370,464 PVCs were unclaimed.
He also said the commission was doing everything possible to ensure a credible election that would meet with global best practices.
“We now have new and improve data capturing for moderate and effective capturing.
“We have introduced additional card readers in case one is malfunctioning in a particular unit,’’ he said.
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The REC solicited the support of all journalists in the state, saying they remained major stakeholders in educating the general public.
He, however, urged journalists to report accurately stories they might gather from INEC offices in the state without bias.
The Chairman of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) in the state, Mr. James Sowole, promised that the union would continue to support the commission in its activities.
