Caleb Ifeanyi Onah, PBA Journalism Mentee
The Resident Electoral Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Bayelsa State, Dr Emmanuel Hart on Wednesday received not less than 320 discovered Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) from Hunters.
The PVCs were said to have been found by Forest Hunters at an unfinished building along the AIT/Elebele Road in Yenagoa the state capital. The Hunters are under the umbrella of the Nigeria Hunters and Forest Security Services.
Join our WhatsApp ChannelThe PVCs were handed over to the INEC REC in the state capital, Yenagoa, by the Commandant of the association, Moses Okanu.
Okanu revealed that the PVCs were discovered by his men while clearing and combing the bush paths and forests on Tuesday around Asikoro and Elebele in the state.
Okanu disclosed that the men were drawn by a noise in the forest, and that before they could reach the uncompleted building; the occupants had fled.
“We have been combing the bushes in the nooks and crannies because of the happening we have been hearing in the bushes. We started from Azikoro and went through Elebele,” he narrated.
“In the course of our going round, we ran into an uncompleted building in the bush and we heard some noise with our usual way of operation to ascertain those who were there, the people sighting us started to jump out of the windows of the uncompleted building.
“So, we were able to penetrate into the building and what we saw was the abandoned voters’ cards. So knowing fully well that these are Federal Government properties and the only authority empowered or authorised by law to keep custody of these items is INEC, we have to recover them and decided to bring it to the Commission.”
Okop Umobong, INEC Administrative Secretary, who received the voters’ cards on behalf of the Resident Electoral Commission, Dr Hart, promised that the commission will investigate the circumstances which led to the discovery of the PVCs in a building inside the forest.
Going further, he appreciated the Hunters Association for returning the cards to the commission as well as keeping the neighbourhood safe.
Umobong added that further investigation by INEC would determine whether the PVCs were abandoned in the process of printing or belonged to genuine voters.
