1.9 Million Electorate Have Collected Their PVICs In Oyo State – INEC

Mr Mutiu Agboke, Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Oyo State, on
Monday said a total of 1,902,032 electorate have collected their
Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) from 2015 to date.

Agboke disclosed
this during the Maiden Christmas Carol and Lecture organised by the
Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in the state.

According to him, 941, 705 registered voters are yet to collect their PCVs in the state.

The
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the lecture is
‘’The Role of Christmas in the Conduct of Credible 2019 General
Elections“.

Giving the breakdown of the PVCs distribution, the
INEC official said that 1,681,144 cards were distributed in 2015 while
the commission distributed 152,741 new PVCs and 68,147 old PVCs this
year.

He implored owners of unclaimed PVCs to visit the nearest INEC offices in their local government areas for collection.

He
charged religious leaders to sensitise their followers against hate
speech, vote buying/selling, thuggery and other forms of electoral
violence before, during and after the elections.

The Guest
Speaker, Pastor Femi Emmanuel, General Overseer, Living Spring Church,
Ibadan, noted that a credible poll in 2019 was crucial to the destiny of
the nation.

Emmanuel charged Nigerians to work towards
successful elections, saying that free and credible poll would douse
tension and make the country to progress.

The cleric advised
Christians against apathy to the electoral process and urged them to
play central and crucial roles in electing those who would govern them.

He
said every Christian had a duty to pray for peaceful conduct of the
general elections, noting that nothing could be achievable without
prayers.

He further urged Christians to be agents of peace and admonished them not to be involved in violence.

The cleric expressed optimism that the nation would overcome her challenges and witness successful general elections come 2019.

Choirs
of INEC, Nigeria Prisons Service and Nigeria Security and Civil Defence
Corp (NSCDC) were among groups that rendered carol songs at the
occasion.

Prayers were offered for the unity of the country and success of the 2019 general elections.