In a recent announcement by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), the omission of elections in 40 polling units during the upcoming November 11 governorship elections in Bayelsa and Imo states has been confirmed. National Commissioner Sam Olumelun, responsible for Information and Voter Education, disclosed that the decision was made due to the absence of registered voters in these units.
Furthermore, INEC unveiled the statistics of uncollected Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) in Kogi, Imo, and Bayelsa states in anticipation of the upcoming elections. Notably, Imo State possesses the highest number of registered voters, coinciding with the highest count of uncollected PVCs totaling 101,003. Bayelsa follows closely with approximately 39,249 uncollected PVCs, while Kogi State reports 99,494 uncollected PVCs.
The statement reads:
“The Commission met today, Monday 30th October 2023, specifically to review the ongoing preparations for the off-cycle Governorship elections in Bayelsa, Imo and Kogi States scheduled for Saturday, 11th November 2023.
“As was done in recent elections, including the 2023 General Election, the Commission is publishing the comprehensive information of collected and uncollected Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) in the three States on polling unit basis.
“The information also gives the distribution of the polling units by Local Government Areas, Registration Areas/Wards, the names of the polling units, their code numbers, number of registered voters and the number of collected as well as uncollected PVCs.
“Equally significantly, the list provides the names and locations of the two polling units in Bayelsa State and 38 in Imo State without registered voters.
“The breakdown for the three States indicates that out of 1,056,862 registered voters in Bayelsa State, 1,017,613 have collected their PVCs and 39, 249 are uncollected.
“In Imo State, the number of registered voters is 2,419,922 out of which 2,318,919 have collected their PVCs and 101,003 are uncollected, while in Kogi State, out of 1,932,654 registered voters, 1,833,160 have collected their PVCs and leaving 99,494 uncollected.
As part of the preparation for the elections, the Federal Government has allocated a substantial budget of N18 billion. Atiku Bagudu, Minister of Budget and Economic Planning, affirmed this decision post the Federal Executive Council Meeting, emphasizing that this allocation has been included in the N2.1 trillion 2023 supplementary budget.
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