Ahead of the Saturday’s Federal Capital Territory, (FCT) Abuja, Area Councils’ Elections, the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC) Tuesday revealed that out of 1,020,799 registered voters, only 646,883 voters have collected their Permanent Voter Cards, (PVCs) so far.

The commission also pleaded with the electorate to pick up their Permanent Voter Cards, (PVCs) to enable them to participate in the elections.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, (REC) in charge of the (FCT) Prof. Jacob Jatau made the plea yesterday at the Stakeholders’ meeting held in Abuja ahead of the polls.

Prof Jatau said that the plea became necessary as “the Commission is not comfortable with the number of those who have collected their PVCs despite the publicity and voter education out reaches”

He stated that out of the 1,020,799 registered voters, only 646,883 voters have so far collected their PVCs while the remaining others remained uncollected.

According to him, ´´we want to appeal to the good people of the Federal Capital Territory to use the remaining two days to go to INEC’s Offices in the Six Area Councils to collect their PVCs from 8am to 4pm”.

Prof Jatau however made it clear that, ‘only those have collected their PVCs will be allowed to vote as readers will be deployed at the 562 polling Units,2,207 voting points and 245 voting points settlements”.

INEC Chairman of the Professor Mahmoud Yakubu, however promised that the Commission was set to conduct free, fair and credible election come Saturday as adequate arrangements had made towards that direction.

Inspector General of Police, (IGP) Solomon Arase on his part warned potential trouble makers to keep off the FCT and its environs before, during and after the Elections.

Arase, who was represented by the FCT Commissioner of Police, Mr Wilson Inalegwu assured that adequate Security arrangements have been put in place to ensure peaceful and credible elections in the FCT.

He said that the residents had nothing to fear about their security but to endeavour to report strange faces around them

IGP Arase who declared that there would be restrictions of human and vehicular movements from 6 00am to 4 00pm on the election day except those on essential duty and accredited people on electoral duties warned that anybody caught flouting the directive would the full weight of the law of the land.

Most of the stakeholders who spoke at the meeting, including the Chairman House of Representatives Committee on FCT, Hon Zaphania Jisalo assured of conducting themselves peacefully during the polls but warned against invasion of the Nation’s Capital city by State Governors and other politicians with the aim of rigging the polls, saying such a situation would be resisted.

They also warned against inconclusive or postponement of polls as being witnessed during re run elections in some parts of the Country.