The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) said it had distributed more than 1.7 million Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Bauchi State, representing 97 per cent of the over 1.8 million received from Abuja.
This was made known by the Commission’s Public Relation Officer, Malam Aliyu Abubakar, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), in Bauchi on Sunday.
He explained that the bulk of the cards that are yet to be collected, were mostly owned by people who had either died or relocated to other states.
He said that few of the cards probably belonged to those who were waiting to collect at the last minute.
A NAN correspondent who visited the PVC collection centre to monitor last minute rush by registered voters, reports that only few people were at the centre to collect their cards.
One Malam Mohammed shuaibu, told NAN that he could not collect his card earlier because he misplaced his temporary voter card.
“I hid my temporary card somewhere for fear of losing it but unfortunately, when it was announced that the PVCs were ready, I could not remember where I kept the temporary one.
“I searched everywhere, since last year, but could not find it. Luckily, this morning, I was just going through my children’s books kept in my box and I found it.
“Without hesitation, I rushed to the collection centre to collect my card and within minutes, my PVC was handed over to me.
“I am so happy that I will participate in the forthcoming general election”, the visibly excited Shuaibu said.
Malam Aminu Hamza, another registered voter, told NAN that he did not collect his PVC earlier because of the usual crowd at the collection centres, and therefore waited for the last minute when people would be less.
“The collection centres are usually crowded with people and I hate crowd. So I waited until the last day, which is today, and as you can see, only three or four people are here.
“I just collected my card easily, with no stress at all”, Hamza said. (NAN)