Four LGAs yet to receive PVCs –INEC

There are strong indications that this Saturday’s governorship election in Bayelsa State may suffer some hitches.

It was learnt that four out of the eight local government areas of the state had yet to receive their Permanent Voter Cards following the continuous voters registration conducted by the Independent National Electoral Commission in September.

The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, INEC, Mr. Baritor Kpagih, said on Saturday in Yenagoa that efforts so far made to get the PVCs from the INEC headquarters had failed.

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He explained that it took the head of the Information and Computer Technology of the commission in Yenagoa days in Abuja before he was able to get the PVCs for four local government areas.

He mentioned the areas, where PVCs had been supplied as Brass, Ekeremor, Kolokuma/Opokuma and Nembe.

He said the outstanding LGAs were Ogbia, Sagbama, Southern Ijaw and Yenagoa, adding that they were released in alphabetical order.

According to the voter register made available by INEC to the political parties participating in the election, a total of 663, 639 persons are eligible to vote in the governorship election.

The breakdown by local government areas shows that Brass has 56,634, Ekeremor, 83,774, Kolokuma/Opokuma, 39,748 and Nembe, 66,384.

The breakdown for the remaining four LGAs, whose PVCs have yet to be collected, shows that Ogbia has 69,253, Sagbama, 79,242, Southern Ijaw, 120,827 and Yenagoa, 139,777.

The REC said over 50,000 PVCs were being expected after the continuous voters registration, but only about 14,000 had been collected.

He said he had informed the political parties participating in the election of the development, asking them to go back and articulate their position for onward presentation to INEC headquarters.

“I asked them to even involve their lawyers and whatever they come up with, if they say the election should be postponed, I will let the headquarters know,” the REC stated.

Some analysts had alleged that the four LGAs, where the PVCs had been received, were the strongholds of the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Chief Timipre Sylva.

Sylva hails from Brass, which they said, had everything in common with Nembe.