Edited by: Ezinwanne Okwuolisa
The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) says nationwide collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) will commence on Friday this week ahead of the 2027 General Elections.
INEC Chairman, Professor Joash Amupitan, announced this in Abuja at a strategic workshop for editors organised by the Nigerian Guild of Editors (NGE) in collaboration with the Commission. He said INEC had completed the processing and distribution of the first phase of PVCs to local government collection centres, urging the media to educate citizens on the collection procedures and locations.
Professor Amupitan said the Commission had also completed the final Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) cleanup following the public display of the Preliminary Register, putting the National Register of Voters at more than 103 million.
He said INEC had completed eight of the 14 major activities on the revised timetable for the 2027 elections and was advancing towards the ninth milestone. He added that nationwide zonal readiness assessments had commenced to identify and address operational challenges ahead of the elections.
According to him, readiness audits had been completed in the South-West and North-West zones, covering office facilities, storage centres, security arrangements and logistics networks, with the remaining zones to be assessed subsequently. He said early procurement and distribution of non-sensitive election materials had also commenced, while new operational vehicles were being deployed to state and local government offices.
The INEC chairman noted that 57,000 new Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices had been acquired and subjected to software and hardware upgrades, battery optimisation and biometric calibration to improve their reliability.
He also said the enhanced eEC8A system would enable polling unit results to be digitised, authenticated and uploaded to the INEC Result Viewing Portal (IReV).
Prof. Amupitan warned that disciplinary action would be taken against personnel found compromising the integrity of the electoral process.
On information management, the INEC chairman expressed concern over the growing threat of misinformation and disinformation, warning that such practices could undermine public confidence in the electoral process. He urged editors and journalists to strengthen fact-checking and verify information from official sources before publication.
Professor Amupitan also declared zero tolerance for vote-buying, political violence and hate speech, saying INEC would strengthen collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Justice, Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) and Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit (NFIU) to monitor illegal campaign financing and vote-buying.
He said the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) had activated an early-warning mechanism to track political violence, thuggery and dangerous campaign rhetoric.
Amupitan proposed a three-point partnership with the Nigerian Guild of Editors, focusing on fact-checking and verification, protection of journalists and sustained communication between INEC and the media. He said the Commission would provide channels for editors to verify information on electoral incidents, logistics and security developments, while working with security agencies to ensure accredited journalists have access to polling units and collation centres and are protected while carrying out their duties.
The 2027 Presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for January 16, 2027, while the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will be held on February 6, 2027.
