About 137,000 Permanent Voters Cards have not been collected in Niger state according to the state State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Sam Eku.
Prof Eku who revealed this during a meeting with stakeholders at the INEC office in Minna, the state capital, urged the stakeholders to create awareness on the importance of the PVCs.
The meeting with stakeholders according to him was important so that the electoral body will continue to engage with the people who have direct interest in the electoral process and whose conduct or misconduct can affect the process.
He further promised to hold regular meetings with the stakeholders to provide them with information to build their confidence and create trust.
He said: “We cannot gain extra mileage in the electoral process with stakeholders if we are not in the same page with them. We need their confidence and trust towards making the electoral process smooth and successful.”
During the meeting, the Commissioner charged the political parties to obey their constitution and rules especially during the process of electing candidates lamenting that political parties cannot offer democracy to the people if they are not democratic themselves.
“Political parties in the nation have the challenge of internal democracy, they do not obey their own rules and constitution and are often not accountable to their members. The health of our democracy can only be determined by the health of our political parties.”
Eku also admonished the political parties to be constructive and innovative in their policies and programmes, pointing out that it has become very difficult for Nigerians to differentiate between political parties in the country based on their programmes and policies, which he said, are similar.
