Oyo REC, Agboke bows out, says INEC ready for free, credible polls in 2023
By Richard Thomas, Ibadan
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Oyo State, Dr. Mutiu Agboke has urged the media to collaborate to collect their Permanent Voter Card (PVC) before the commencement of the 2023 general election.
The REC stated this at the media briefing and valedictory programme held for him at the Dr. Mutiu Agboke Collation Centre, INEC headquarters, in Ibadan.
According to him, it is imperative that people collect their PVC before the election commences.
Dr. Agboke, who has completed his five years tenure as Oyo REC said his journey with INEC started in Ondo State in August 2017 before his deployment to Oyo State on January 25, 2018.
He used the occasion to express his profound gratitude to the media and other stakeholders for their support and cooperation which has brought the commission to its present level.
Speaking further, Dr. Agboke said INEC started preparation for the 2023 elections immediately after the conclusion of the 2019 polls, adding that the commission converted additional 1,607 poling units to the existing 4,783t, making a total of 6, 390 polling units in the state.
He said the commission introduced INEC Voter Enrolment Device (IVED) as part of a new technologically driven innovation to among other things facilitate the In-person (physical) registration aspect of CVR.
He added that the Commission commenced the scheduled Continuous Voter Registration with an online Pre- Registration exercise on June 28th, 2021 nationwide using INEC Portal: cvr.inecnigeria.org.
Dr Agboke said the In-Person (Physical) Registration at INEC state and local government offices began on July 26, 2021, adding that the idea is for intending registrants who just turned 18 years or have not registered before now to visit any INEC office or designated registration areas.
“There are 2, 934,107 Registered Voters in Oyo State, going by the last 2019 general elections. However, because the CVR is still ongoing, the Commission will still come up with an update on the total number of registered voters before the commencement of the forthcoming 2023 elections.
“For those who have registered or carried out other CVR activities during the first and second quarters in 2021, their PVCs are now available for collection in the 33 local government offices in the state.
“We have 78,420 registrants that completed registration during these periods but there were only 45, 187 valid registrations out of it all,” he added.
