The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) will commence on Friday, October 9, 2026. This development comes as the National Register of Voters has risen to more than 103 million. The commission's chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, made this disclosure in Abuja at a strategic workshop for editors organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with INEC.
According to Amupitan, the latest voter register figure follows the conclusion of the three-phase Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise and the completion of the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup. The three phases of the CVR exercise produced 10,772,421 new registrations, subject to ABIS verification. The registrations were carried out in phases between August 2025 and July 2026.
A breakdown of the CVR exercise shows that the first phase, which ran from August 25 to December 10, 2025, recorded 2,611,266 registrations. The second phase, conducted from January 5 to April 17, 2026, registered 4,121,835 voters. The third phase, held between May 11 and July 26, 2026, recorded 3,867,997 new registrations. These new registrations have contributed to the growth of the National Register of Voters.
INEC has completed the processing and distribution of Phase One PVCs to local government collection centres ahead of Friday’s nationwide exercise. The commission's chairman urged the media to inform registered voters about collection locations and encourage them to collect their cards ahead of the 2027 elections. He emphasized the importance of voters collecting their PVCs to participate in the electoral process.
Amupitan disclosed that INEC had introduced online voter registration and printable PVC technology to reduce the difficulties associated with physical registration and prolonged waiting for voter cards. The printable PVC technology was tested during the Osun governorship election and used to enable voters whose PVCs had been stolen to participate in the election. These innovations aim to improve the voter registration and PVC collection process.
INEC has commenced nationwide readiness assessments ahead of the elections, with physical audits and staff engagements already completed in the South-West and North-West geopolitical zones. The assessments cover state office facilities, storage facilities, security arrangements, and logistics deployment networks. Similar exercises will be conducted in the remaining four geopolitical zones to ensure preparedness for the elections.
On the 2027 election timetable, Amupitan said INEC had completed eight of the 14 major activities contained in the revised timetable issued on February 26, 2026. The commission is working towards completing the ninth activity. INEC has also started early procurement and distribution of non-sensitive election materials and is distributing new operational vehicles to state offices and local government areas.
Key points
- INEC to begin PVC collection on October 9, 2026
- Voter register surpasses 103 million
- INEC introduces online voter registration and printable PVC technology
