The leadership of Ohanaeze Ndigbo Youth Council worldwide on Friday urged registered voters in the southeast to collect their Permanent Voters cards (PVCs). It was worried over the huge number of uncollected PVCs across the southeast and other parts of the country where Igbo reside. It noted that this will undermine their voting strength.

The National President of OYC, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, made this call in a statement after their meeting in Abakaliki. OYC urged all the Igbo across the 36 states and Abuja to collect their PVCs to enable them vote for candidates of their choice in the election.

“The OYC General Assembly observed that prior to 2015 elections when the All Progressives Congress (APC) controlled states in the southwest, it deliberately disenfranchised Igbo by denying them access to their PVCs, even after a few Igbo had won some House of Representatives seats in Lagos”.

Okechukwu disclosed that the group had mandated its 31 states chairmen, which excludes the five core southeast states to mobilise Igbo outside the southeast to collect their PVCs, while appealing to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to extend the deadline for the collection of PVCs till January ending to enable those who travelled or registered in their hometowns to freely collect their cards.

It also called on the southeast governors, Christian Association of Nigeria (CAN), Muslim community, religious leaders, southeast town unions, and student union leaders, especially from Zone B, traditional rulers, market unions, and Biafra agitators to mobilise for the collection of voters cards.