INEC Announces October 9 Start for Nationwide PVC Collection Ahead of 2027 Elections

The Independent National Electoral Commission has announced that nationwide collection of Permanent Voter Cards will begin on Friday, October 9, 2026, as preparations intensify for the 2027 general elections.

INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, disclosed the date on Monday at a strategic workshop for media executives organised in Abuja by the commission in partnership with Development Alternatives Incorporated and the Nigerian Guild of Editors.

The announcement comes as the National Register of Voters has surpassed 103 million, according to the commission.

Amupitan said more than 10.6 million Nigerians applied for voter registration during the three phases of the Continuous Voter Registration exercise.

He added that the public display of the Preliminary Register, which allowed citizens to raise claims and objections, had been completed. The commission had also concluded the final Automated Biometric Identification System cleanup of the register.

With the 2027 elections approaching, the INEC chairman said the commencement of PVC collection represented another important stage in the electoral preparations.

He said the commission remained focused on building an electoral process driven by transparency, technology and credibility.

Amupitan said INEC would continue upgrading the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and the INEC Result Viewing Portal “to ensure that every valid vote counts and is seen to count.”

He also identified citizens’ confidence in the electoral process as fundamental to the credibility of elections.

“The ultimate arbiter of electoral integrity is public trust,” Amupitan said.

The INEC chairman called for closer cooperation between the electoral commission, the media, civil society organisations and other stakeholders.

He said the commission was willing to engage with editors on operational concerns and provide timely information in order to prevent communication gaps from being exploited by misinformation.

Amupitan urged “newsrooms to establish digital fact-verification desks and pledged that INEC would provide editors with direct access to verify field incidents, logistical developments and security reports in real time.”

He also proposed a “sustained editorial feedback mechanism between INEC and the Nigerian Guild of Editors to review operational progress and resolve emerging challenges throughout the 2027 election cycle.”

Speaking on voter education and public communication, the Director of Voter Education and Publicity Department, Mrs Victoria Eta-Messi, identified misinformation and disinformation as major contributors to declining citizen participation.

She urged media organisations to help the commission disseminate accurate and timely information to citizens, particularly with the commencement of PVC collection only days away.

The Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Adedayo Oketola, said the workshop was designed around three broad objectives.

According to him, the first was to rebuild institutional trust through open dialogue by creating a transparent two-way communication channel between INEC and media gatekeepers.

The second objective was to tackle information disorder and strengthen fact-verification processes.

Oketola said the commission wanted to establish “seamless 24-hour fact-verification loops between newsrooms and INEC so that speed would not come at the expense of accuracy.”

He said the third objective was to promote shared democratic responsibility among the media, civil society and electoral institutions through ethical gatekeeping, conflict-sensitive reporting and civic enlightenment.

The Executive Director of the Centre for Media and Society, Dr Akin Akingbulu, said Nigeria had reached a critical stage in its democratic development as preparations for the 2027 elections gathered momentum.

He noted that the commencement of PVC collection was only days away, while electoral issues were already dominating conversations across traditional and digital media platforms.

Akingbulu said editors had responsibilities that went beyond their official positions, describing them as key stewards of the country’s electoral information ecosystem.

Recalling an earlier call for editors to rigorously verify information, guard against deepfakes and avoid publishing unofficial election results, he said: “Verification is a two-way street.”

He added: “Verify before you amplify.”

Also speaking, the President of the Nigerian Guild of Editors, Mr Eze Anaba, described the workshop as timely given the country’s proximity to another general election.

Anaba said elections went beyond the act of casting ballots, stressing that citizens must have confidence that their votes would be counted and that electoral institutions would conduct their responsibilities fairly and professionally.

He urged editors to maintain accuracy, fairness, balance and public interest in their coverage of the electoral process.

Anaba also called for improved access to credible and timely information from INEC to enable the media to provide citizens with reliable information as preparations for the 2027 elections continue.