The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says at least 72 million Nigerians collected their permanent voter cards (PVCs) ahead of the 2019 general elections, Igbere TV reports.
Igbere TV reports that INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, made this known at a press briefing in Abuja on Thursday.
He said the 72.7 million who have collected their PVCs represent 86.3 percent of the over 84 million registered voters in the country.
Katsina, the home state of President Muhammadu Buhari, recorded 98.69% collection rate, while Adamawa, home state of Atiku Abubakar, his main challenger, recorded 90.66%.
The commission had said the total number of registered voters in the country stood at 84,004,084, which represents just 42 percent of Nigeria’s population which currently stands at 198 million.
Mahmood gave the exact number of total PVCs collected as 72,775,585, with 11.2 million cards uncollected.
The 72.7 million collection rate is 16,344,330 more than the 56,431,255 collected in 2015.
This shows an increase of 22 percent in the number of the PVCs collected compared to 2015.
More to come….