- Says PVC Collection Begins Friday
- Assures Nigerians Of Transparency, Technology-Driven Results
THE INDEPENDENT National Electoral Commission (INEC) says it has intensified preparations for the 2027 general elections, with nationwide collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) scheduled to begin on Friday, October 9, 2026.
INEC Chairman, Prof. Joash Amupitan, SAN, disclosed this on Thursday in Lagos while delivering the keynote address at the 10th annual conference of the Guild of Corporate Online Publishers (GOCOP), held under the theme, “2027 Elections: Trust, Transparency and Shared Responsibilities.”
Amupitan said the commission had made significant progress on its electoral timetable and operational preparations, stressing that public confidence in the 2027 elections would depend on the faithful implementation of electoral laws, effective deployment of technology, administrative discipline and transparent communication.
According to him, the presidential and National Assembly elections are scheduled for Saturday, January 16, 2027, while the governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections will hold on Saturday, February 6, 2027.
He said the commission issued its revised timetable and schedule of activities on February 26, 2026, containing 14 critical statutory activities, and had progressed substantially in implementing the milestones ahead of the polls.
Amupitan said the commission’s election planning structure now cuts across 23 headquarters departments and directorates, 36 state offices and the Federal Capital Territory, as well as 774 Local Government Area offices responsible for grassroots deployment across more than 176,000 polling units nationwide.
He said INEC was transitioning from strategic planning to intensified operational readiness, quality assurance and physical deployment as the elections draw closer.
103 Million Registered Voters
The INEC chairman announced that the National Register of Voters had reached a historic milestone of 103 million registered citizens following three phases of Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) conducted between August 2025 and July 2026.
He said the first phase, conducted from August 25 to December 10, 2025, registered 2,611,266 new voters.
The second phase, held from January 5 to April 17, 2026, recorded 4,121,835 new registrations, while the third phase, conducted from May 11 to July 26, 2026, added another 3,867,997 voters.
Amupitan said the commission had completed the public display of the Preliminary Register of Voters to allow claims and objections, while the Information and Communication Technology Department was finalising the official PDF Register for nationwide display.
He added that INEC was also completing the synchronisation of CVR data through its Automated Biometric Identification System (ABIS) to eliminate duplicate registrations.
According to him, the processing and printing of new voter cards using the commission’s newly introduced Printable PVC technology have been completed, paving the way for nationwide collection from Friday.
He urged online publishers to use their platforms to educate citizens and mobilise registered voters to collect their cards at designated Local Government offices and Registration Area centres across the 36 states and the FCT.
INEC Upgrades BVAS, Result Transmission Systems
The commission, Amupitan said, had also undertaken major technological upgrades aimed at strengthening accreditation and protecting the integrity of election results.
He disclosed that the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices had undergone hardware optimisation, battery calibration and software upgrades to improve facial and fingerprint accreditation.
INEC, he said, had also commenced a nationwide audit of BVAS devices and procured additional units based on operational requirements.
Another major technological development, according to the chairman, is the enhanced eEC8A system, which is designed to digitise polling-unit result sheets immediately after counting.
Under the system, Form EC8A is scanned at the polling unit, cryptographically signed and transmitted simultaneously to the public results viewing portal.
Amupitan said the arrangement was intended to provide end-to-end visibility of polling-unit results and reduce opportunities for manual alteration at intermediate collation points.
He said the system had already been deployed successfully in recent off-cycle elections in the Federal Capital Territory, Ekiti and Osun states.
The chairman also disclosed that INEC had introduced artificial intelligence-based auditing tools and multi-layered cybersecurity measures in collaboration with global technology companies, including Google and Microsoft.
The measures, he said, were designed to protect the commission’s databases from cyber intrusions, distributed denial-of-service attacks and unauthorised data injection.
Early procurement and logistics
Amupitan identified logistics as one of the major factors capable of undermining public confidence in an election and said INEC had taken steps to address potential transportation and material-distribution challenges ahead of 2027.
He said procurement and delivery of non-sensitive electoral materials to the 36 states and the FCT had already commenced, providing additional time for inventory checks, batching and distribution to the 774 LGAs.
The commission, he added, had procured new operational pickup vehicles for deployment to state and LGA offices to address transportation difficulties, particularly in difficult terrains, riverine communities and remote border settlements.
He said a centralised Operational Activity Schedule had also been introduced to monitor the movement of materials, storage security and vehicle deployment in real time across state command centres.
INEC warns against partisan conduct
The electoral body has also commenced nationwide readiness assessments and staff engagements across the six geopolitical zones.
Amupitan said the South-West and North-West zones had already undergone detailed assessments, with the exercise continuing in other zones.
The assessments, he explained, cover office infrastructure, storage security, logistics routes, voter-card distribution channels and emergency-response mechanisms.
He said the commission’s leadership was engaging directly with Resident Electoral Commissioners, administrative secretaries, heads of department, electoral officers and assistant electoral officers to identify operational gaps and emerging risks before Election Day.
He also disclosed that training programmes were ongoing for election personnel, with emphasis on operational administration, technology, conflict mitigation and legal compliance.
Amupitan warned that INEC officials would be held strictly to the requirements of neutrality under the Electoral Act 2026.
“Partisanship, administrative carelessness, or ethical compromises will be met with immediate dismissal and statutory prosecution,” he said.
The chairman also highlighted measures aimed at strengthening staff welfare, including the implementation of the Consolidated Election Management Body Salary Structure (CEMBSS) from January 1, 2026, and a 150 per cent increase in state-office operational overheads from July 1.
Focus on voter education and inclusion
Amupitan said INEC had intensified voter education through traditional media, digital platforms and grassroots communication channels.
The campaign is designed to educate voters on voting procedures, accreditation requirements, BVAS operations, PVC collection and Election Day regulations.
He said the programme would specifically target women and youth organisations, persons with disabilities and communities that are hard to reach or underserved.
For persons with disabilities, he said INEC was providing braille ballot guides, tactile posters and sign-language integration, while local-language broadcasts and community town-hall meetings would be used to reach rural and riverine communities.
INEC urges online publishers to combat disinformation
A substantial part of Amupitan’s address focused on the role of online publishers in shaping public perceptions of the electoral process.
He warned that fake news, unverified leaks, sensational reporting, synthetic media and AI-generated deepfakes could undermine confidence in elections, fuel political tensions and discourage voter participation.
The INEC chairman urged online publishers to resist clickbait journalism and prioritise accuracy over the race to publish first.
He said an inaccurate report could cause lasting damage to public confidence even where a correction or retraction was subsequently issued.
Amupitan also urged publishers to provide context when reporting operational difficulties during elections, rather than presenting isolated logistical problems as evidence of systemic failure without verification.
According to him, corporate online publishers have a responsibility to serve as a filter between unverified information circulating online and the wider public.
INEC proposes three-point pact with GOCOP
As part of efforts to strengthen electoral information management ahead of 2027, Amupitan proposed a three-point operational partnership between INEC and GOCOP.
The first component is dedicated digital fact-verification. He said INEC would provide consistent digital media fact-verification support during the election period to give GOCOP journalists direct access to information needed to verify field reports, security incidents and technical challenges before publication.
The second is rigorous editorial self-regulation. The INEC chairman called on GOCOP to impose strict internal sanctions on member platforms or affiliated channels that publish unverified polling-unit results, altered result sheets or incendiary speculation.
The third component is a national voter-education partnership focused initially on the nationwide PVC collection exercise beginning Friday.
He urged GOCOP members to help disseminate accurate information on collection centres, operating hours and requirements so that registered voters can obtain their cards without difficulty.
Amupitan assures neutrality
Amupitan assured Nigerians that INEC under his leadership would remain committed to the Constitution and the law, insisting that the commission had no preferred candidate or political party.
He said the ultimate responsibility of the electoral body was to protect the free and uncoerced choice of Nigerian voters.
He also called on media organisations, political actors, civil society groups and other democratic stakeholders to contribute to a credible electoral process.
“The ultimate success of the 2027 General Elections will not be measured merely by the logistical scale of our deployment, but by the transparency of our procedures, the credibility of the outcomes, and the shared commitment of all democratic stakeholders to safeguard the sanctity of the ballot box,” he said.
The INEC chairman’s address came as GOCOP marked its 10th anniversary and also paid tribute to the late Dotun Oladipo, former GOCOP president and publisher of The Eagle Online.
Amupitan described Oladipo as a pioneer of Nigerian digital journalism, a patriot and a champion of ethical online publishing, while extending condolences to his family, GOCOP and the wider media community.
The conference, he said, offered an opportunity for the electoral commission and digital media industry to strengthen their partnership at a critical stage of preparations for the 2027 elections.
