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Governor Adams Oshiomole of Edo State has urged
voters in the country to use their Permanent Voter’s Card
to punish incompetent leaders and the party that
fielded them, by voting them out in the next general
election.
Speaking, shortly after collecting his Permanent Voter’s
Card, yesterday, the Governor said without the PVC, it
would be impossible to change an incompetent
government.
He said: “In a democracy, it is expected that when you
elect people in good faith, you elect them in trust. When
you have voted for someone and for one reason you are
not satisfied, then you need the card to be able to fire
the person, particularly when the person makes himself
available in the next election, if the person is not
contesting and you feel strongly about the issue you
can decide to use your card to punish the political
party that fielded the person.
“So if you do not have this card, you are not in a
position to punish those who have not performed. So if
anybody says, because this man did not perform well
therefore I will not collect the voter’s card. That is a
mistake.
“This card is a horsewhip to punish anyone who you
elected that did not perform and to punish the political
party that produces that person unless you are
convinced that it is not the fault of the party. The
permanent voter’s card is not only an instrument of
reward but one for punishment.
“Nothing justifies why you should not collect your card.
This card is not just for the next election. You will not
only use it in 2015, you will use it in 2016, you will use
it in 2019 for the governorship and presidential
elections,” he noted.
Oshiomole continued, “ Edo people want to have the
power to punish those who did not touch their lives; to
reward or punish those who went there and kept on
committing sin. If there is anybody in Edo State who
had registered and for logistic reasons his name is not
in the register, we will do everything to ensure that he is
registered.
“Our right to vote is the most fundamental of all the
other rights. The right to hire or fire the person we
entrust with our collective word”.
The Governor said “the turn out of people is
encouraging. The corpers are following the rules. As you
can see, I was rushing to be here and I forgot my
temporary card at home. Because of that, I had to wait
to go and get the card.
“I understand there are hitches in a few places I have
been told in a particular unit that cards were not
available in the local government. INEC is taking care
to find out the whereabout of the cards in that
particular unit.
“In Oredo Local Government, quite a number of people
turned out and their names are not in the register. There
are quite a number of wards and units that this thing
has happened,” he said.
He noted “By the end of day, we should be able to
collate all information in the entire 192 ward and so we
are going to have a comprehensive review.
On this part the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Edo
State Baritor Kpagih said the response to the call for
collection of the PVC is good.
He said “the response has been fine. But one of the
observation that we made at the various polling units
particularly outside Etsako area, the people were not
organized and it was a bit difficult for people to collect
their cards”
Vanguard
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