The Independent National Electoral Commission says the distribution of Permanent Voter Cards to their owners will begin by the middle of May.

The Ebonyi INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Godswill Obioma disclosed at a strategic security interactive meeting on Wednesday in Abakaliki.

TheNews Agency of Nigeria reports that the strategic meeting involved INEC officials, representatives of security outfits involved in the conduct of the election as well as the National Orientation Agency, and the National Youth Service Corps.

Obioma said that the commission would commence the distribution of the PVCs to eligible electorate, who registered between 2017 and 2018.

He urged security officials, who were yet to register, to take advantage of the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration to register.

He further urged members of the security agencies, who transferred from other locations, wishing to transfer their cards to Ebonyi to approach any INEC office nearest to them for the transfer.He warned against double registration, noting that any double registration would result in the cancellation and disqualification of the voter.

“We have concluded arrangements for the distribution of the Permanent Voter Cards to their owners and the exercise begins by mid-May and will involve those who registered between 2017 and 2018.

“We have begun early to plan for the 2019 elections and I want to assure you that we will do our best to eliminate factors that will compromise outcome, credibility and integrity of the elections.

“Let me use the opportunity to urge officers who have not registered to register and those wishing to do card transfer to visit any INEC office for the update,” Obioma said.