By Eunice Nnachi, Yenagoa
Independent National Electoral Commission on Wednesday received 320 Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) found in Bayelsa forest.
Receiving the voters cards on behalf of the Bayelsa State Resident Electoral Commissioner, the Administrative Secretary of the Commission, Engr. Okop Umobong thanked the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service for bringing the cards to the Commission and for keeping the neighborhood safe.
Umobong said he will hand over the cards to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Alex Hart, assuring that the Commission would investigate the circumstances that led to the cards being found in the forest.
He noted that the investigation will determine whether the PVCs were abandoned in the process of printing or they belong to genuine voters.
Presenting the voter’s cards to the Umobong, the Bayelsa State Commandant of the Nigerian Hunters and Forest Security Service, Mosses Okanu said the 320 voters cards were found in an uncompleted building in the forest along Elebele-AIT Road.
Okanu noted that the hoodlums on sighting the men of his command who were on routine operation combing the bushes took to their heels and abandoned the voter’s cards.
He said: “In our routine patrol, I led the operation yesterday. 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.
“In the course of our going round, we ran into an uncompleted building in the bush and we had some noise with our usual way of operation to ascertain those who are there, the people sighting us started to jump out 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 full well that these are Federal Government properties and the only authority empowered or authorized by law to keep custody of these items is INEC so we have to recover them and decided to bring it to the Commission”, he said.
