Nationwide PVC collection begins Friday as voter register hits 103 million – INEC

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will begin on Friday, as the commission steps up preparations for the 2027 general elections.

INEC also stated that the number of registered voters had risen to more than 103 million after the completion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise.

The commission’s chairman, Joash Amupitan, disclosed this on Thursday at the 10th annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP) in Lagos.

Mr Amupitan, who is a professor and Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), was represented at the conference by the Lagos Resident Electoral Commissioner, Ayobami Salami, who delivered his keynote address.

“Nationwide PVC collection will officially commence tomorrow, Friday, 9 October 2026,” Mr Salami, a professor, said.

He stated that 10,772,421 new voters were registered during the three phases of the CVR.

According to him, the new registrations had undergone biometric verification and INEC had completed the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup of the register.

The commission has scheduled the preliminary display of the register from 9 to 15 October for voters to check their details and raise claims or objections where necessary.

INEC introduces printable PVCs

Mr Amupitan explained that INEC had introduced printable PVC technology to reduce the time voters would spend waiting for their cards.

He said the technology would also make it easier to replace cards that had been lost or stolen.

The commission, he added, had audited its technological infrastructure and procured new devices ahead of the 2027 elections.

INEC is also strengthening its cybersecurity system and deploying artificial intelligence tools to identify and respond to possible threats to the electoral process.

The commission had earlier announced the acquisition of 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines for the election.

INEC disagrees with Agbakoba on election projections

The INEC chairman also disagreed with the position of the conference chairman, Olisa Agbakoba, a Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN), on the media’s reporting of election projections and exit polls.

Mr Agbakoba had questioned whether restrictions on such reports would be consistent with the constitutional rights to freedom of expression and access to information.

Mr Amupitan noted that people and organisations were free to express opinions and make predictions, but that official election results could only be declared by the appropriate electoral officers.

“I want to respectfully disagree with your position. The position of the law, as we understand it today, is that only the returning officer has the constitutional responsibility to declare results,” he said.

“Opinion is free, but facts are sacred.”

He warned that unofficial declarations could create confusion and trigger a crisis.

Mr Amupitan urged the media to rely on verified results uploaded through INEC’s Result Viewing platform, IReV, when reporting election results.

He also appealed to online publishers to avoid unverified information and clickbait that could mislead voters.

Panel questions INEC’s readiness

The issue of election projections also came up during a panel discussion on “2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities”.

The panel included the Commissioner of Police in charge of Election Planning, Monitoring and Evaluation, Abayomi Shogunle; Head of Mass Communication at the University of Lagos, Tayo Popoola; Creative Director of Gender Agenda and founder of WEWE Network Afrique, Adaora Sydney-Jack; and Executive Director of the International Press Centre, Lanre Arogundade.

Mr Arogundade urged INEC to give the public more information about the technology it plans to use in 2027.

He said journalists should scrutinise the companies supplying the technology as well as the safeguards put in place to prevent manipulation.

He also questioned the preparedness of political parties to monitor the technology and the wider electoral process.

According to him, any interruption in the electronic transmission of results could become a problem if INEC did not communicate quickly with the public.

He therefore called for a 24-hour crisis communication system that would allow the commission to respond to problems as they emerge.

On election projections, Mr Arogundade said the media should not be prevented from analysing results where the analysis was based on verified polling-unit results already available to the public.

Media urged to understand election laws

Mr Popoola said journalists must understand both media and electoral laws when covering elections.

He noted that the constitutional right to receive and share information did not remove the responsibility of journalists to follow professional and legal standards.

He also raised concerns about media ownership and commercial interests, saying these could influence the way elections are covered.

Ms Sydney-Jack said technology would not by itself restore Nigerians’ confidence in elections.

“Technology cannot substitute institutional credibility,” she said.

She said the election process started long before election day, including political party primaries, candidate selection and campaigns.

According to her, many Nigerians were willing to vote but remained unsure whether their votes would count.

She called for closer scrutiny of party primaries and greater participation by women and young people.

She also warned against the use of security agencies to serve political interests instead of protecting voters.

Police outline security plans

Mr Shogunle said the police had begun preparations for the 2027 elections and were using a more analytical approach to election security.

He said the force had developed state-specific operational plans based on the security challenges in each state.

He explained that the police were also using predictive analysis to guide deployment.

“Election security is not limited to election day,” he said.

Mr Shogunle cited recent elections in Anambra, the Federal Capital Territory and Ekiti as examples of the police’s evolving approach to election security.

He said the police had enough personnel for deployment to polling units and urged civil society organisations and the media to continue providing information that could help identify potential threats.

Speakers call for prosecution of electoral offenders

The panel also raised concerns about the prosecution of electoral offenders.

Speakers questioned why some people arrested during elections were not prosecuted, saying failure to punish offenders could encourage others to commit similar offences.

They called for people found culpable of electoral offences to be prosecuted regardless of their political affiliation.

The discussion also touched on vote buying.

The panellists said inducements were not limited to cash and could include food, livestock and other material items.

They called for stronger enforcement of electoral laws to curb the practice.

The panellists also called for voter education materials to be made available in Nigeria’s major indigenous languages.

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They said relying heavily on English could make electoral information inaccessible to some voters.

Hausa, Igbo and Yoruba were mentioned as languages that could be used alongside other indigenous languages to explain voting procedures, electoral rules and voters’ rights.

The speakers also stressed the importance of trained party agents at polling units.

They said properly trained agents could monitor voting, check election materials and observe the completion of polling-unit result forms.

The conference brought together publishers, journalists, electoral officials, security agencies and other stakeholders to discuss preparations for the 2027 elections.