Thursday, he stated this during a news meeting in his office.
He stated that 1,506,336 PVCs have been gathered in Enugu State in advance of next month's elections.
Dr. Chukwu stated that before the ongoing PVC distribution effort began on December 12, 2022, 381,332 PVCs in Enugu State had not been collected by their proprietors.
He said that 127,665 PVCs remained uncollected prior to the 2019 general elections and before the start of continuous voter registration last year.
Last year's continuous voter registration campaign recorded 263,567 registrations, bringing the total number of uncollected PVCs to 381,332 before the distribution of PVCs begins on December 12, 2023.
According to him, "We began our PVC distribution campaign on December 12, 2022 in local INEC government offices." We proceeded to the wards on January 6 to guarantee that everyone received their ID cards, and we will leave the wards on January 15 and return to the LGA offices of INEC to continue the distribution till January 22.
"As of the end of the first week of distribution, 5,000 individuals had collected their PVCs. In addition, 10,360, 5,949, and 30,053 PVCs were collected, respectively, in the second, third, and fourth weeks, for a total of 51,362 PVCs collected as of January 10, 2023.
"As of January 10, the total number of uncollected PVCs stood at 329,870. Currently, INEC personnel are in 260 Registration Areas (wards).
He lamented the low number of eligible voters who collected their PVCs, stating that failure to acquire the cards would be detrimental to the nation.
"It is quite regrettable when someone older than 18 will register for a PVC yet refuse to collect it. This constitutes a waste of INEC and federal government resources. It also signifies that you will not be a member of the electorate on election day.
"We engaged in extensive education and publicity regarding the collection of this PVC. We were present in churches. We visited the markets. We held talks with traditional leaders and civil society organisations, but we still have an abundance of PVCs that have not been collected.
"In order to ensure that every eligible voter receives a PVC, we enlisted corps members to assist in card distribution.
"However, we will use the remaining days to ensure that individuals who have not yet received their cards have them by January 22.
"We guarantee the citizens of Enugu State that our officers would ensure that everybody who comes to his ward will receive their PVC within the remaining three days for the distribution of PVCs in their respective wards.
"We're taking this opportunity to urge eligible voters in Enugu State who own these cards to come forward and get them. There are only eleven days remaining to collect the cards.
"In general, the distribution of PVCs will halt on January 22 in order to allow INEC to continue with other election preparations.
"The public should be aware that this PVC will be used to conduct the election. Without a PVC, you cannot vote for your candidate," he explained.
(Source: independent.ng)
