Suspected hoodlums, believed to be working for one of the leading political parties in Nigeria, have snatched no fewer than 3, 366 Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in Izzi and Ikwo local government areas of Ebonyi State.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state Dr. Lawrence Azubuike disclosed this on Thursday in Abakaliki.
Azubuike expressed concern and disappointment following the waylaying and snatching of batches of PVCs from hapless INEC staff traversing the state to distribute the cards.
He disclosed that “Within the last three days, no less than 3366 PVCs have been snatched from INEC staff in the field. In Eka Awoke registration area of Ikwo local government area, hoodlums forcefully snatched 302 PVCs from INEC staff distributing the cards”.
“At Igbeagu III in Izzi local government area on Tuesday, February 3, 2015, 3064 PVCs were similarly snatched from on distribution duty. In Ohaukwu local government area, INEC staffs were violently attacked in the course of distributing the PVCs, however no card was snatched”.
The REC, however, condemned the thoughtless criminality and advised those behind the act to desist from it, saying that the efforts spent in snatching PVCs that belonged to others was a wasted efforts.
“PVC in the hand of a wrong owner is a useless piece of card. You cannot use any PVC that is not your own to vote during the elections.
“The card reader has been introduced to ensure that. Disenfranchising others by preventing them from collecting their cards does not in any way help any candidate’s chances of being elected”.
The REC further called on Ebonyi people to help to ensure that the process of preparing for and conducting the 2015 elections in the state goes on without hitches and unnecessary criminality, saying that the extension of the collection of PVC to February 8, 2015 was to ensure that it got to everybody before the election.
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