Kogi/Bayelsa Governorship Polls: INEC to Commence PVC Distribution Soon

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has said it would soon release the timetable for stakeholders’ engagement for Permanent Voter Card Collection and other activities ahead of the November 16th governorship elections in Kogi and Bayelsa States.

Chairman of the Commission’s Information and Voter Education Committee (IVEC), Festus Okoye hinted at this at the weekend during the opening of a two-day National Strategy Meeting on Capturing Disaggregated Data of Persons with Disabilities (PWDS), organised with the support of the International Foundation for Electoral Systems (IFES) in Abuja.

The IVEC Chairman said, “In the next few days, the Commission will announce the timetable for stakeholders’ engagement for PVC collection and other activities relating to the states where we are going to have standalone governorship elections and the issue of this data collection will be one of the big issues in relation to whether we conduct good elections in Bayelsa and Kogi States”.

But, Chairman of the Commission’s Outreach and Partnership Committee (OPC), Dr. Adekunle Ogunmola, said the meeting was a needed “platform for knowledge and experience sharing that will ultimately lead to useful input and far-reaching recommeºndations on the best methodology and scientific approach to explore for the capturing of disaggregated data of PWDs to deepen their participation in the electoral process”.

Continuing, he said, “According to the world report on disability published in 2011, about 25 million Nigerians have at least one disability. However, with the population figure of Nigeria being put at over 200 million based on the latest United Nations estimates, naturally, there will be an upward swing in the population figure of PWDs in the country.