By Rotimi Ojomoyela
There was mild drama on Monday at the Ado- Ekiti state office of the Independent   National Electoral   Commission (INEC), when thousands of potential voters besieged the office, demanding their Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs).

INEC PVCs

The angry persons said that they had been visiting the office for several months without getting the cards, as they accused the officials of the electoral body of selling the cards to politicians.

Sola Akindele, from Oye-Ekiti who transferred his card to Ado-Ekiti, sounded very angry when he said: “last week I was here for the PVCs they asked me to come on Monday which is today and have been coming but we can’t get the cards.

“This is my right and I must get the card to vote. I transferred from my town, Oye, to Ado. We are ready to vote but our INEC is denying us this right.”

Another aggrieved registrant, Adewale Adekola, said: “I have been coming here from Ureje for the past four months. I use N300 for transport fares on daily basis.   I arrived here since 7 a.m. and we have been waiting, this is almost 11 am. They have always been asking me to come back. They said I should come back today. They didn’t bother to check, they have been giving the cards to some people that they know from their churches and mosques,” Adekola who said he registered last March said. They asked us to come back on Wednesday but the collection will close this week Friday.

“They are not serious and not doing the right they are doing some under dealing. It does appear that they have sold our cards. They are even using the police to harass, but we won’t accept this,” he added.

Ayedogbon Helen, another angry prospective voter from Odo Oro in Ado Ekiti, said: “I have been coming since last year when I have registered but they said we should come back tomorrow (today) or Wednesday and it is closing this Friday,” she said as she insisted she needed the card to vote.

It’s not possible to sell PVCs, INEC spokesman

However, the INEC spokesman in the state, Taiwo Gbadegesin, dismissed the claims of the sale of the cards saying the allegation was based on anger.

“We have just taken delivery of the final copies of the Permanent Voters Cards. And we need to do some sorting to respective local government area offices of the commission. We cannot just begin to give them out like that.

“We need to sort out the respective registration areas and to know which one goes to this or that poling units.

“All prospective voters that have duly registered for the PVCs would get their cards this week unfailingly. We urge them to just exercise patient.

“The allegation that we have sold the PVCs can’t be true because there is no way it is possible for another person to use one’s PVCs. No one can collect the cards by proxy. It is just some of the unfair criticisms we get from the members of the public. We can’t blame those saying that because when you are embittered you would say so many things.

“The sorting would end this evening (Monday) and all prospective voters duly registered would start collecting the PVCs. The police are not intimidating anyone, they are only at the office to ensure orderliness,” he said.