Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has announced the commencement of distribution of Permanent Voters’ Card, PVCs in Rivers state, effective from Friday November, 7 to Sunday 9 November 2014, in seven local government areas.
The Commission’s Chairman, Prof Attahiru Jega, represented by the Supervisory National Commissioner in charge of Rivers, Akwa Ibom and Cross River States, Barr, Mrs Thelma Iremire, made the disclosure yesterday, in Port Harcourt at the INEC Stakeholders Forum, and further affirmed that the seven LGAs included Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, Ogu/Bolo, Okrika and Omuma.
Others were Opobo/Nkoro, Oyibo and Tai, explaining that the exercise in those areas would be for three days to be followed by the Continuous Voters’ Registration, CVR exercise from November 13 to 17, while 18 had been set aside for claims and objections.
Mrs Iremire emphasized the need to encourage the electorate to collect their PVCs to enable them express their franchise in the February 2015 elections, and also stated that the CVR exercise had been programmed to follow the distribution of the PVC, to ensure that only those holding it, but their names are not in the displayed register were given the opportunity to remedy the situation, while all those who did not register in 2011, and those who had attained the age of 18 since the last general registration exercise, were all invited to represent themselves for registration.
Earlier in his welcome address, the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, Elder Aniedi Ikoiwak, assured that INEC would not only conduct a free, fair and credible election, but would exhibit high level of neutrality in the state in particular and Nigeria at large.
In his goodwill message, the Commissioner of Police Rivers state Command Dan Bature, represented by Deputy Commissioner of Police, DCP Akali Shaba, observed that there would be no election without democracy, and that there would also be no democracy without election, and also assured that apart from the election being transparent, it must be peaceful assuring the readiness of the Police to cope with the situation.
Present at the occasion were representatives of the 26 registered political parties, leaders of religious organization, traditional rulers and NUT representatives among others stake holders.
INEC has put so many strategies in place with a view to ensuring free, fair and credible elections, as promised by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan.