The Independent National Electoral Commission office in Abia State has advised residents who were unable to locate their Permanent Voter Cards to wait until after the elections to continue the search.
Edwin Enabor, the INEC Public Relations Officer in the state, gave the advice in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Umuahia on Wednesday.
Enabor said nothing could be done at this time as the time set for the PVC collection had expired.
NAN reports that some residents had complained that they could not find their PVCs where they had registered or where they had been directed to go and search for them last week.
Some of the residents who spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria in Aba, expressed their displeasure that they would be disenfranchised due to INEC’s failure to make their PVCs available to them.
Love Obi, a resident of Umuoba Road in Aba, said that she had registered at GTC, Aba, and had gone there up to three times to retrieve her card without success.
Obi said: “I went first last year and I did not see my voter card where I registered.
“Then towards the end of 2014, I went again and was asked to return after three months.
“When I went after three months, which was January 2015, they told me to go search for my card at Aba North Local Government headquarters, but all the searches yielded no results as I was told that my card could not be seen.
“I went to both GTC and Aba North LGA headquarters but my voter card was not found.
“Why should I be disenfranchised by a problem I did not create even when I want to vote?”
Elder David Okeugo, a tailor formerly residing at Omuma Road, said in 2014 when people were asked to collect their PVCs, he went to Asaa-Okpuaja Hall, where he had registered, but could not trace his card.
Okeugo added: “I have gone there and they told me to go to Aba North local government headquarters.
“At the local government, I was also told to go to Tower but at Tower, they said it was not there.
“Then I went to Okigwe Road Primary School by Faulks as I was directed and it was not found.”
Okeugo, who said he later went to Osusu Primary school, yet his PVC was not found, expressed regret that he took time off work to register and at the end of the day, would not be able to vote.
Another resident, Ndukwe Ogbaa, a driver, who also could not locate his card, told NAN that his expectation of being among those to decide Nigeria’s leadership in the coming elections had been cut off.
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