By Giwa SHILE
Some residents of Alimosho on Wednesday complained of their inability to get their Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) as the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) ‘s Feb. 8, deadline approaches.
TBI Africa said a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) check at INEC office at Alimosho Local Government Area showed the influx of people who besieged the Commission’s Local Government Office as at 10 a.m.
Many of the residents who said they had been on the queue based on their different wards since 7.a.m., said they were disappointed as they were told that their PVCs were not ready, despite registering since 2018.
There are 11 wards under Alimosho LGA and people travelled from all over to get their PVCs, the wards are Abule Egba/Aboru/Meiran/Alagbado, Ayobo/Ijon Village, Egbe/Agodo, Egbeda/Alimosho, Idimu/Isheri Olofin, Igando/Egan, Ikotun/Ijegun and Ipaja North.
Some residents who turned up at the commission’s office to collect their PVCs were successful, while many others were disappointed as they were asked to come back before Friday for collection.
It took over 30 minutes to one hour to attend to less than five persons on the queue as the INEC officials collected the Temporary Voter Cards and go in to search for the PVCs.
A retired teacher, Mrs Ifeoma Eke, wore a disappointing face when told her PVC was not ready having registered a year ago.
“’I have registered since February 2018 and each time I go to collect, they will tell me it is not ready yet. This is the fourth time I will be leaving my business to check.
“I wonder how long it takes to print the card. This means that I cannot vote in spite of all my efforts because there is no assurance that it will be ready by Friday, ” Eke said.
Mr Ben Okojie, a barber from Egbeda area expressed his anger thus: “I registered at Isheri in Egbe Idimu Local Council Development Area (LCDA), I went there twice and they said not ready.
“’They said the deadline is on Friday and I was directed to come to the LGA to collect my PVC, now they are still telling me not ready yet.
“I will not come back here again. God knows I have tried,” Okojie said.
Another resident who gave her name as Mrs Ranti Alabi, told NAN that she registered in August 2018 and was told her card could not be found.
“When I got there they could not find my card after several hours of waiting on the queue. I wonder how I am going to vote in spite of the fact that I have my Temporary Voter Card,” she said.
Also, Mr Joseph Ndukwe, whose centre is at Local Government Primary School, Idimu, lamented that since Monday he had been reporting at the centre without success on the whereabouts of his PVC.
“I am confused, I don’t know what to do again, as you can see (pointing to the crowd) we have been coming here and on each occasion left disappointed.
“Is this an attempt to disenfranchise many eligible voters like us? INEC already said anyone without his PVC, means that person automatically disenfranchised himself during the general election.
“This election is important to my future and that of my children. I really need to vote. INEC should do something about the situation,” he said.
One of the officials who pleaded anonymity, said that they were expecting more PVCs from Abuja before Friday.
“The unavailability of some of the PVCs is no fault of ours. The PVCs are printed at our headquarters in Abuja and later released to us.
“Over the weekend, they brought in PVCs and promised to bring more before Friday. So, we advise those people whose cards are not ready now to check back by Friday,’’ she said.
