Monarch urges INEC to establish additional PVC collection centres in Zamfara

The Emir of Maru, Alhaji Abubakar Chika-Ibrahim, has appealed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to provide additional Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) collection centres in Zamfara .

The emir made the call in Maru on Thursday while receiving the State Government’s Committee on Voter Mobilisation who visited the emirate.

Our correspondent reports that the committee was in the emirate to inaugurate a sub-committee on PVC collection for Maru Local Government Area.

The emir said that only one collection centre was inadequate for a whole local government area because some communities were far from the headquarters where the centres were located.

“You are aware of the economic hardship we have in this country now; some people are looking for just what to eat.

“It will be difficult for them to come from such far places to the headquarters just to collect PVCs.

“INEC should take distribution of uncollected PVCs seriously because it is no justice to have only one PVC collection centre in a local government area.

“INEC can organise general election and provide PVCs registration centres too across the polling units.

“I see no reason why these PVC issuing centres cannot be created in the wards or polling units across the state,’’ he said.

Chika-Ibrahim, however, commended the state government for establishing the committee and thanked the committee for involving traditional rulers in its activities.

Earlier, the Secretary to the State Government (SSG), Prof. Abdullahi Shinkafi, said the committee was set up to address the problem of uncollected voters’ cards.

Shinkafi said that the state government was unhappy about the number of uncollected PVCs in the state.

He said: “based on INEC reports, we have about 60,000 uncollected PVCs with the INEC; that is why we came up with this committee.

“Apart from the 14- man committee headed by the Speaker of the State House of Assembly, Alhaji Sanusi Rikiji, we have established sub-committees at the local government, wards and districts levels.”

The SSG said the committees would be headed by the traditional rulers in their respective areas of operation.

“We involved traditional rulers in this exercise because we considered their great contribution to the exercise,” he added.

He said that in addition to setting up the committee, the state government was also working hand in hand with the INEC and all stakeholders, in order to succeed in the exercise.